


Larna, the vampire and Skyrim

by Buddafish



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-04
Updated: 2016-04-07
Packaged: 2018-03-10 11:37:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 53,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3288953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Buddafish/pseuds/Buddafish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>thanks for Bethesda for making the game. I can only take the credit for Larna, everything else belongs to Bethesda</p>
    </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for Bethesda for making the game. I can only take the credit for Larna, everything else belongs to Bethesda

Chapter one 

“Larna, get in here” Kara shouts out towards her daughter and watches as a young child comes running down the country lane that runs near their home. Larna looks like every other eighteen year old Nord woman, long blonde hair, nice set of emerald green eyes and pale skin. Larna also acts like any other one but she has talents that no other can match. She is capable of using magic that should be beyond anyone of her age let alone race. 

“what mum?, I was just exploring this cave I found a few hours ago, nothing bad inside” Larna responded. 

“Look Larna,you are too curious for your own good, you get that from your father. Look you need to make sure you are not caught using magic, you know how the Nords are about magic users”  
Magic users throughout skyrim are treated like filth due to their lack of trust towards them due to various incidences that are as a direct result in magic and Necromancy.

“Yes mum” Larna says before sulking towards the house that she and her mother live in. The house is located in the the hold of Falkreath located in the south west part of skyrim. The hold is well known for its forests which supply the rest of skyrim with the wood collected from it. The forests acts as an natural maze in which Larna can hide in to avoid the prying eyes of the locals when she practices her magic.

“Look, after loosing you father to that bear a few years ago and your brother not just before that to a sabre tooth tiger. I cannot afford to lose you as well, I don't know what I would do with out you” Kara starts to cry and Larna notices this, runs over to give her mum a hug.

“ I am sorry” whispers into her mothers ear before breaking the hug to see a big smile across her face.

“Go inside and eat your dinner, you have an errand to run in Falkreath afterwards”

Larna nods before walking into their small house and sitting down at the table. She looks across to the portrait that hangs over the fire place and admires the picture. Her mother and father sitting down in the house while her older brother sits on their lap. As Larna had just been born, she was wrapped up in cloth and resting in her mothers arms. A tear forms in the bottom of her eye at the thought that her older brother and father are no longer with her.

“You finished” kara asks while ruffling Larna's hair. Larna nods before wiping a way the tear and standing up and walking into her room to collect her walking stick and putting on her cloak. Larna walks out the house where her mother is waiting.

“Take this to the blacksmith in Falkreath” Larna asks while handing a bag of coins before continuing” there should be enough money there for a forty arrows that I am going to need for hunting tomorrow”

Larna nods before receiving a peck on the cheek and motioned to go on.

“Stick to the main roads, no sight seeing and definitively no magic” Kara shouts after Larna before she disappears over the hill. Kara then returns inside to finish her work on the tanning rack.

Larna arrives in Falkreath in record time and walks over towards the blacksmith that is located just near the gate.  
“Can I have forty arrows please” Larna ask the blacksmith while pulling out the coin bag that her mother gave her earlier.

“Sure thing” the blacksmith responds before walking off and quickly returning with iron arrows in a quiver. “ Here are the arrows. Say, you came from the forest didn't you?”. Larna nods while she passes over the coin bag and throws the quiver over her shoulder like her mother taught her so it stays stable during movement. “ Have you seen a dog on the paths?, it looks like a loyal dog and I would very much like to have one. The guards haven't seen it so I though you may have seen it.” 

“sorry, I have only seen elks and bears in the forest, no dogs.” 

“That's fine, I will keep an eye out. If you see it, can you come and find me please” 

Larna nods before walking back while the blacksmith returns to the forge and continues to beat the glowing sword with a hammer before returning it to the fires.

On the route back, Larna kept a look out for the dog the blacksmith told her about. She had spotted something running through the bushes but because it was getting dark and it was moving too fast, she couldn't confirm it. She did however did spot a bear walk across the path but after a few well placed ice shards, the beast was no longer a threat.

 

Larna walks over the hill and spots a large amount of smoke pouring out of the forest floor and starts to panic. Larna runs down the hill and finds her house on fire with flames pouring out the windows. She starts to walk towards the house then spots a woman laying on the floor with four arrows in them. Larna walks closer to find who it is and starts to cry at who it is, her mother. Larna runs over and kneels beside her before trying every restoration spell she knew but it was too late. Larna just rests her head on her her mother and sobs uncontrollably. 

Suddenly, as Larna stands up, she hears footsteps coming from the left. Larna just stood frozen in the glow of the fire as four soliders clad in a unusual armour that she has read about armour she got from the blacksmith when he learned it was her birthday, gold coloured armour shaped into what looks like feathers with a bird helmet. Larna then notices a fifth person coming in close behind wearing robes instead of armour.

 

“There is the one we are looking for” Shout the one in robes before its hands start to glow. “ We need her alive”

Larna staggers back and shouts in pain as one of the people in the armour fire an arrow which strikes her in the shoulder. The attackers can only watch on as Larna's hands start to glow with fire before a fire ball is thrown at them. The soldiers burst into flames before falling down into an ash piles as the fire ball explodes in between them all before an lightning bolt strikes Larna. Larna staggers back as she feels some of her magic disappear because of the bolt before causing lightning to arc across her hands. The robed man can only watch as a huge bolt of lightning strikes him before he falls down into a crouched position. Larna walks towards him and picks up one of the swords left laying on the ground before walking over to the only aggressor left alive.

“Who sent you” Larna demands while pointing the sword towards him 

“I will tell you nothing” The man responds defiantly before Larna picks him up and thrusts the sword through his chest and pulls it back out before dropping the sword 

Larna then walks over to the burning house and using any ice spell she could think of, she puts out the flames in the family house and leaving a light frost covering in its place. She walks inside and looks around to find anything that could have survived. She finds her mothers bow laying underneath her bed and picks it up before placing it across her chest. She then spots something shining underneath a pile of burned roof panels and walks over to find out what it is. On closer inspection and a little bit of wood clearance, she finds her fathers dwarven sword laying underneath it. Larna picks up the sword and then slide the blade into her waist belt before grabbing the spare tent walking out. 

Larna then turns her attention to her mothers body still laying in the road and walks over. She kneels down and picks up the body before walking towards the place she goes to remember her family

Larna arrives in the clearing in the middle of the forest and sets up a funeral pyre before placing her mothers body onto it. She whispers a few prayers before setting the wood on fire with a burst of fire. Larna just stands there and watches the flames flicker up, thinking of her family before looking up at the stairs. Because it is a clear night, she can spot all the constellations she has read about over the years.

“You are with the others in Sovngarde now” Larna mutters to herself while a tear falls down her face before pulling up her hood on her robes and walking away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to leave Positive comments and CONSTRUCTIVE comments. Anything that is not these things will be ignored. I know it is not following the lore of the game exactly but where is the fun in that


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for Bethesda for making the game. I can only take the credit for Larna, everything else belongs to Bethesda

It is dawn and Larna watches at the sun rise over the tree top as she walks down towards Helgen for a rest at the Inn. As she walks on, she wonders what to do now as now the last of her family are dead and her childhood home is destroyed. She could explore Skyrim as she always dreamed of a child, she could also find out who attacked her and have revenge for her mother.  
Her trail of thought was suddenly broken as the sound of horse shoes striking the cobbled path came from behind her. She slides out of the way as a man dresses in imperial armour comes riding down the path followed by a couple of horse drawn carts with bound people follow from behind. Larna looks into the last cart and spots a man who looks familiar, gagged in the back.

“Is that?..” Larna says louder than she intended

“That's right”. Larna turns to the imperial soldier who is on horse back.” That is the leader of the rebellion, Ulfric Stormcloak” The guard adds with a triumphant tone.” Have you come to witness the execution and the end of the war? If you are follow on, if not walk away.” 

Larna just nods before following next to the guard. Larna thinks over what she has heard about the war from when she was in Falkreath on errands, how Ulfric killed the high king of skyrim, the Stormcloaks anger at the banning of worshipping Talos. Larna then notices that only Ulfric is gagged and asks the guard “Why is he gagged and no one else?”.

“He used the power of the voice to kill the High king and we don't want a repeat of it” 

“The voice?” Larna asked curiously 

“ a power he learned from the Greybeards who live in the palace of High Hrothgar on the Throat of the world” 

“I heard that they are peaceful and use the voice in only self-defence” 

The conversation quickly ends when Larna watches as the main gates to Helgen open up and allow access to the imperial caravan. She thinks over her times visiting Helgen when she was younger and cannot remember a time she as seen them shut but then again this is no ordinary cargo that the carts are delivering. As Larna follows the caravan through the gates, she spots a couple of people on horseback to the left but Larna becomes interested in one in particular as the woman of the pair is dressed in familiar looking robes. On closer inspection, as the caravan she is following passes by, Larna confirms that they are the robes she remembers one of the attackers wearing.

As Larna moves her eyes to the woman's face, she suddenly spots that the woman in question is starring directly at her and turns away while adjusting her hood so more of her face is hidden. Larna continues to follow the caravan looking over every so often looks over towards the robed woman who is not only continuously starring at her but is now scowling at her as well.

Larna walks over towards the small gathering of people who have come to watch the event in the hope of avoiding the woman's gaze. Larna looks over the crowd she has mingled in and notices that there are a few travellers in the crowd but is mostly Locals who have come out to see the event taking place in their settlement. Larna starts to panic a little when she looks over to the robed woman to find she has moved out of sight and tries to use the crowd as cover while working out escape routes just in case. She watches on the last person who is called up to the block shout “I am not a rebel, you cant do this” before running past the person reading out the names from a book and heads towards the exit. The woman, who Larna guesses is a Captain by the look of her armour, shouts “archers” before watching the escapee falling to the floor with arrows sticking out of his back that were fired from the imperial archers scattered throughout the settlement. The captain then turns to the others being held prisoner before continuing” anyone else feel like running”. 

Larna suddenly feels someone grab her by the arm from behind and drag her into one of the surrounding building before being slammed into the floor and someone on top of her, pinning her arms to the floor with their legs. She looks up to the person currently pinning her to the floor and notice that it is the same robed person she had spotted earlier and tries to use magic or anything to her her off.  
“No use” The woman says while running her finger along Larna's cheek” so you escaped my recovery team. You are harder to catch than I thought” 

“So you ordered the attack on my family” Larna says as she growls at the person holding her down

“Yes, I was expecting you to arrive in chains”

“What do you want?” Larna demands while looking for a way to get this woman off.

“ You, your fine body and your magical abilities” The woman responds while continuing to stroke Larna's face before leaning in and whispering into Larna's ear“ I am going to have fun breaking you into something I can greatly use”. Larna is about to ask another question when she suddenly feels a hand run along her robes before grasping one of her breasts through her robes and screams out in shock.

Larna suddenly receives a punch in the face and while a warm hand covers her mouth while the woman continues to lean on top of her before whispering in her ear in a more demanding tone” “Scream again and I will hit you again. You better get used to this”. All Larna can do is to struggle as she is groped by the woman on top of her for a few seconds before a large roaring sound erupts from outside.

“what was that?” the woman remarks as she turns her attention away from Larna 

Larna, sensing that the woman is distracted from the noise coming outside, decides that this is the best time to strike back and get out of there. With a quick flick of the wrist, Larna manages to free her hand which she then uses to punch the woman in the face with as much force as she can muster. Larna watches as the punch causes the woman to fall off and bang her head on a wooden box before laying on the floor stunned . Larna, using the quick window of opportunity granted by the punch, quickly scrambles to her feet and rushes outside. As she runs out the building while sorting out her robes from the encounter, a Midnight Black dragon lands on the tower in front of her with a crunch of breaking stone before being knocked to the floor by a enormous eruption of noise and force that originates from the dragon. 

As Larna stands up, she looks up at the sky and watches as the clouds turn a deep orange colour before stating to spiral around a central point while meteors fall from the sky. Larna can only watch as the meteors fall randomly onto the settlement, putting large holes in buildings before setting them on fire or exploding on impact with the ground. 

Larna is about to try and escape when she hears some one shouting behind her “You get back here now” in an extremely angry tone. Larna turns around to see the woman who had groped her just a few seconds ago is standing in the doorway, crimson red blood flows down the side of her face from the large cut that is across her forehead 

“No” Larna barks back while preparing any spell she could think off but before she has the chance to charge the spell, a meteor strikes the ground only a few feet away Larna before exploding, throwing her into the stone wall of the large tower that is next to the inn. She stands up but feels groggy from striking the wall when she is suddenly grabbed again and pulled into the tower. This time, it is not some one looking to harm her but instead saves her from a meteor that lands and forces the door into the tower shut.   
She shakes her head and refocuses on the where she is, a stone tower with a staircase leading up while a few people have started to rest inside, tending to their wounds.

“was that the dragons from legends” One of the Stormcloak survivors asks out loud in the hope of clarification.

“A legend doesn't burn down villages” Ulfric responds 

“Wait, you survived?. I thought you would be executed first” Larna remarks before watching everyone in the room draw their weapons.”Look, I have no reason to fight you. I was just passing through Helgen when the attack happens” Larna quickly adds to diffuse tension in the room. Ulfric lowers his axe and returns to tending the wound on his arm. 

Larna runs up the stairs to the next floor in the hope of finding another way out of there but when she arrives, she watches as the dragon blows hole in the tower with its head and breathes fire at the unfortunate soul that is standing in the way. The dragon subsequently pulls its head out and with a ground shacking movement, it takes off again.

“Jump down there” A Stormcloak soldier shouts from behind her while pointing at the large hole in the roof of the building opposite “ I will try to follow”. With a quick gage of distance, Larna leaps through the gap in the roof and lands on her feet with a thud on the wooden floor. She is just about to move down the stairs when she feels the wooden floor give way and she falls another level down but with the same grace as before, she manages to land on her feet. She rushes outside as the rest of the building falls down, watching on as an Imperial soldier grabs a young boy from the incoming fire breath from the dragon before moving to use the wreckage of another burned out building for cover when the dragon refocuses the fire attack to hit them.

 

“follow me if you want to live” The man shouts in a calmer voice than Larna expected for the crisis at hand. He then turns to the man crouching down next to the wreckage before continuing” Take care of the boy, I have to find General Tullius and join the defence” 

“ Gods guide you Hadvar” The man responds before dragging the boy under cover 

Larna follows Hadvar through the maze of burning buildings, avoiding the falling meteors and keeping out of sight of the dragon that is swooping around and setting fire to things. They cross over a pile of wreckage and are just about to turn a corner when the dragon lands on the wall, looking over to a imperial archer that is shooting arrows at it. Larna grabs Hadvar and pulls him against the wall in the hopes of avoiding the attention of the dragon, watching on as the dragon lands only a few feet away. Larna can only watch as the dragon burns another unfortunate soldier to a smoking corpse before it then takes off with a ground shacking movement, flying over their heads towards another part of Helgen. 

Larna follows Hadvar as he runs out and follows the path in between the burning houses, arriving in a large area as a few archers are firing arrow after arrow at the dragon while retreating into the keeps main entrance. 

“Come Hadvar, into the keep. We are leaving” Shouts one the man that Larna is guessing is General Tullius by the armour he is wearing. Hadvar and Larna start follow the group into the keep but unfortunately couldn't when a meteor strikes the entrance way, killing a few of the guards.

“This way, it is you and me. Stay close” Shouts Hadvar while running down the hill toward a possible second entrance. Larna just stands there, looking at the burning buildings all around with bodies in various states of appearance litter the streets between. Larna's trance is broken when a meteor strikes the house opposite her, causing large amounts of wood and stone to be thrown around the place. She turns her attention to Hadvar who is standing beside what appears to be an entrance in to the fort while waving her over. Larna runs towards the fort, watching as the dragon dives down at the archers on the walls and grabbing them before taking off again. 

Larna runs inside the fort with Hadvar in tow before shutting the door as the dragon breaths fire across the courtyard. Hadvar walks over to the door opposite while Larna has a quick look around. She manages to find a couple of gold coins on a table, some spare potions in the shelving units scattered through the room and a couple of pieces of food.

“Here, take the sword on the rack, you are going to need it” Hadvar says while indicating towards the weapon rack hanging on the wall just next to him.

“I don't need one, I have got my fathers sword and my mothers bow” Larna responds while reaching for the sword at her waist and the bow across her chest. She starts to panic when the blade is no longer at the waist and her bow is not across her chest. “ Where are they?, they are all I have got left of my family” Larna adds while looking around franticly for any sign of the weapons.

“I am sorry, they must have either been broken or fallen off while we were running from the dragon” Hadvar says before returning to door to get out.

Larna slowly walks over to the weapon rack and pulls out the iron sword hanging on the rack while wiping away a tear. She fastens the blade to her waist before walking through the door that Hadvar managed to open.

Larna follows Hadvar through the fort, avoiding the falling stones from the ceiling as the dragon flies over and killing any Stormcloak survivors that decided to attack them. They don't manage to find any other surviving imperial soldiers or locals, just imperial soldiers. They run down a flight of stairs into what appears to be the torture chamber where a couple of Stormcloak soldiers are standing over the bodies of what appears to be a torturer and his assistant.

After a few minutes of fighting, Larna searches the room and finds what appears to be the body of a dead mage laying in a locked cage. Larna walks closer and finds that there is also a spell tome, a couple of potions and some more gold coins.

“Can you see the key for the cage?” Larna asks out loud in the hopes of opening the cage 

“No, try these lock picks” Hadvar responds while handing her a couple of lock picks 

A couple of minutes and broken lock picks later, Larna manages to open up the cage and collect the items inside. After looting the rest of the room for the spare potions and coins, Larna follows Hadvar through the fort and into the cave system before ending outside. Larna walks out and breaths a sigh of relief as the cold, skyrim air fills her lungs but darts behind a large boulder as the dragon flies over the top of them. 

“ I think it is gone for good this time” Hadvar says as the dragon disappears over the treetops and into the mountain range opposite them. “Well thank you for helping inside there, I don't think I would have made it on my own back there. I am heading to Solitude to report to General Tulius. Thanks again” 

Larna watches as Hadvar walks down the hill and disappears into the forests of skyrim. “ I guess I am on my own again but I suppose that is for the best. I should head into Whiterun to get my self organised before I start exploring” Larna mutters to herself before pulling up her hood up and walking on towards Whiterun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to leave Positive comments and CONSTRUCTIVE comments. Anything that is not these things will be ignored. I know it is not following the lore of the game exactly but where is the fun in that


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for Bethesda for making the game. I can only take the credit for Larna, everything else belongs to Bethesda

Chapter 3

Larna was following the footpath path to Whiterun when she spots three carved stones standing on a stone platform overlooking the river and her curiosity got the better of her. As she walks over, Larna starts to feel an unusual magic emanating from the stones the closer she gets. Larna notices that the moss covered stones are well made with what looks to be different constellations carved into the base and a large hole carved into the top of the stones. Larna walks over towards the stone that has the constellation that resembles that mage carved into it and runs her finger across the image. 

She jumps back when the symbol starts to glow blue. She continues to watch as the glow slowly moves up the stone before focusing into the hole at the top. A blue beam of light goes straight up into the sky for a few seconds before the stone slowly stops glowing all together. “What kind of magic is this” Larna mutters to herself before turning around and following the path down towards the river while feeling a sense that she will be able to learn magical abilities a little bit faster.

Larna was walking towards the little settlement that she could see but starts to hear a lot of footsteps behind her, some wearing what sounds like armoured boots. Larna turns around to see who it was and starts to panic when the person leading the group of golden coloured armour is not only wearing the same robes as the woman in Helgen but also looks like her as well. “Shit, it is the same woman from Helgen” Larna mutters to herself before turning invisible and hiding behind a nearby large tree. To Larna's shock, the woman motions the group to stop only a few feet away from where she is standing before looking into her pouch and pulling out a rolled up piece of paper.

“This is the woman we are looking for” The woman says while opening up the paper holding it up, Larna noticing that the picture of a woman on the paper is her. ”search everywhere and look under everything, leave no stone unturned. Remember, this woman is dangerous and has escaped capture twice now.”

“Why are we looking for her Elenwen?” One of the soldiers asks before receiving a glare of the woman.

“So Elenwen is the name of the woman who attacked me and my family” Larna thinks to herself while trying to maintain her invisibility.

“ She is a mage that is very powerful and remains a threat to the Thalmor. However, if we can capture her, we can break her and make her one of us.”

“Alright then Elenwen, where do we start?” the soldier responds while taking what appears to be a mental note of what is on the paper.

Larna slowly starts to back off when she breaks a twig under her feet, causing her to look down at the source of the noise. When she looks up, she ends up looking directly at Elenwen who has now spotted her as Larna became visible again after losing concentration 

“There you are” Elenwen says before turning to the soldiers” I want her alive, the person who brings her in will be greatly rewarded.

Larna starts to back off as the guards start to approach her with weapons drawn. Without even thinking about the after effects, Larna throws a fire ball directly at them. The fireball explodes and forces everyone to stagger back a few paces. Elenwen can only watch as the woman she has been hunting for is forced down the bank from the explosion, falling into the river below with a large splash.  
Larna stands up and looks up to where Elenwen is standing and watches as the soldiers start to climb down the bank towards her. Larna turns around and runs through the water towards the opposite bank, Hearing Elenwen shout as she crosses the river “ Get her now, you cannot return back until she is caught”. 

Larna just runs through the woods as fast as she can, darting through the trees and avoiding the arrows that come flying in from behind her. She feels a sharp pain in her shoulder but just continues to run until she is out the woods and towards the large wooden gates of Whiterun

“Whiterun is closed with the dragons about” one of the guards say as they walk over towards Larna 

“I was at Helgen when the dragon attacked” Larna responds while trying to catch her breath.

“The Jarl is going to want to see you” The guard responds before walking over to the gates and opening them. “You may want to get that checked out” Another guard adds while pointing towards her back.

Larna reaches around to where the guard is pointing and feels what appears to be an arrow sticking out of her. “So that's what that pain was, I am getting sick of arrows” Larna mutters before reaching around and grasping the base of the arrow with her hand before pulling it out with on swift motion. The guards can only stare at her as she waves her hand over the wound before throwing the arrow to one side and walking in.

Larna walks through the busy streets of Whiterun, avoiding any contact with anyone as she walked up the main stairs towards the big building on the top of the hill. 

“Welcome to Dragonsreach traveller, I expect you have news on the dragons” 

Larna just nods before she watches as the large double doors open up into the building. Dragonsreach is huge in comparison to anything Larna has seen when she was younger. Wooden columns either side reaching to the roof while a carpet leads up to the stairs that go to the next level up. Larna just looks around as she walks up the stairs and onto the red carpet that leads to the throne while tables filled with food lay either side. She walks over towards the man on the throne but is stopped by an Dunmer woman with her blade drawn,

“State your business here stranger” The woman asks in a firm tone 

“I have news on the dragon attack” Larna responds while being cautious of the woman in front of her 

“So that is why the guards let you in. Approach the Jarl but remember, I have got my eyes on you” The woman responds before lowering her sword and walking back over to where she was standing before.

“So you were at Helgen when the attack happened, Tell me what you saw” The Jarl asks with interest.

Larna then spends the next few minutes explaining what happened when the dragon attacked, her escape through the fort and only finding a few survivors. She does however neglect to mention the incident with Elenwen inside the building and the encounter on the way here.

The Jarl just sits there for a few seconds before reaching under his chair and pulling out a coin pouch before tossing it over towards Larna. “you came here on your own imitative and warned us that the dragon is on its way. Here is some gold, use it to sort out your equipment and return when you have done this, I may have a task for you”

Larna nods before she walks over to the wizard she saw when she came in. She walks into the room and walks over towards the table in the middle of the room while the wizard is turns around and asks “Can I help you?”

“I need to buy some equipment”

“Then you need to go to the blacksmith down near the gate, I cannot help you”

“I need magical equipment, not something you can get at a forge”

“So you are a mage then, show me”

Larna grumbles for a few seconds before holding up both hands and making Lightning arc between the hands before lowering them.

“You have promise young mage” the wizard says as he watches the lightning,” What do you need then?”

“I need some new robes to replace this one, some soul gems and as many tomes on magic as I can get”

“So you wish to master the arcane arts and if you've got the aptitude, you should join the mage's college in Winterhold” Before the wizard walks into the back rooms and brings out a full set of robes, a box full of full soul gems and a few books.”This should serve you well”Larna places some gold on the counter before taking the items before walking out. 

She walks into one of the back rooms and checks the room for anyone before closing the door. As she put on her new robes, she admires the craftsmanship that went into the robes and how they feel when she puts them on. She pulls on her new boots and gloves and pulls the hood up before walking over to the mirror to have a look. She admires how well the robes fit her and how they highlight her body features perfectly. She runs her hands along the robe, loving how the red embroidery that runs along the edges as it adds that extra bit of detail to the black robes. She puts on the belt that runs waist and fastens the sword onto it. After a quick check to make sure that the robes don't touch the floor but hang just a few inches above it, She walks back into the wizard's room and starts working on the enchanters table. 

“What are you working on” the wizard asks curiously while Larna is working 

“I am adding muffle to my boots and magic boosting enchantments to my robes”Larna responds before focusing on her work. 

After a few minutes, she finishes her work and feels the magic getting to work, bolstering her magical abilities and allowing her to focus channelling her magic with out feeling as tired. 

Larna is about to walk back to the Jarl as requested when the great doors of Dragonsreach swing open and a couple of guards burst in, screaming something out loudly but she cannot understand what they are saying. The guards rush over to the jarl before stopping in front of him, breathing heavily and sweating.

“What is going on?” The Jarl asks the guards  
It takes a few seconds for the one the guards to control his breathing enough before saying”A dragon just attacked the western watchtower” 

“Alright, go down to the barracks and take a rest, you earned it. Irileth, take your men and assist the western watchtower.”

“I have just ordered my men to the front gate” Irileth responds before bowing running out Dragonsreach.

The Jarl turns to Larna before continuing “ I would like you to go as well, you have had more experience fighting dragons than anyone else. When you get back, I will reward you for the services you have done for this city”

Larna just nods before running out and joining up with the guards that are on their way to the western watchtower.

They arrive at the watchtower within a matter of minutes. A main stone tower with a stone staircase leading into the tower entrance while two ruined, stone walls lay in ruin either side. Small fires burn all around with a few charred remains lay in burned patches of earth, A dragon was definitively here.  
The silence was suddenly shattered as one of the biggest roar Larna had ever heard came from over the treetops before she saw the creature that made it.  
A huge bronze coloured dragon appears from over the treetops and lands in front of her and the guards before breathing fire at her. Larna manages to raise a ward in time to deflect the breath around her but the guard next to her was not so lucky as he fell into a pile of ash. Larna lowers the ward before drawing her sword and charging a fire ball while the guards run at the dragon with their weapons drawn. The dragon lifts off and circles the tower before flying over their heads and breathing fire in their direction. Larna throws a fire ball at the dragon but is annoyed when the ball flies past, barely missing the left wing.

Larna tries other spell but found that they just missed. She remembers reading about the different speeds of spells and how Lightning strikes the target instantly when cast but there is a little air time for fire and ice based spells. She decided that lightning bolts are the best spell to use and charges one before waiting for the perfect moment to strike. The dragon swoops down for another attack and that is when Larna releases the bolt. She watches as it strikes the dragon on its side before it comes crashing down. Larna rushes over and strike the dragon in the eye, cutting a nice line down the side of its head.. She then leaps onto the dragons head while it is distracted and stabs her sword through its head before pulling it out and jumping of its head.

The dragon flails about for a few seconds before it falls over dead.

“ how did you know how to do that?” Irileth asks Larna 

“I don't know, instinct I guess” Larna responds 

Larna notices that the dragons scales are slowly burning into ash while the whole body starts to glow. The glowing starts to swirl towards Larna who can only stand there, mesmerised as the dragon finishes burning up and leaving the bones behind. Larna shivers as the last of the glow dissipates and mutters to herself” That feels better than sex” before turning to see that Irileth and the guards are stepping back a few paces.

“ What happened?” Larna asks the group of people still starring at her 

A guard steps forward and says” you are dragonborn”

Larna steps back and respond ”what?”.

“You are dragonborn”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to leave Positive comments and CONSTRUCTIVE comments. Anything that is not these things will be ignored. I know it is not following the lore of the game exactly but where is the fun in that


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four

“A what?, I have never heard of it” Larna asks curiously 

“A dragonborn is someone who can kill dragons and steal their power. That is what you did, didn't you?”

“I don't know, I don't any feel different”

“Try shouting,a dragonborn can shout with out training”

Larna just stands there for a few seconds before tuning her head and shouting” Fus”. The guards just watch as a pulse of force explodes out of Larna's mouth and knocks over one of the guards who was standing in the way.

“Oh shit sorry, are you alright?” Larna asks as she rushes over to help the guard up.

As Larna help the guard stand up, a bellowing noise that sounded like thunder came from the direction of the highest mountain in all of Tamriel. 

“what was that?” Asked one of the guards as they all looked over towards that direction

“I don't know” Irileth responds “Lets get back to the Jarl, he will want to know what happened” 

Larna watches as Irileth and the guards start walking towards Whiterun before she walks over towards the dragon skeleton to collect a few things. After a few minutes looting, Larna manages to walk away with a full set of Whiterun guard armour, some dragon bones and a handful of dragon scales. 

As Larna walks past the blacksmith towards Dragonsreach, she hears the gates open up and a guard run through with a face like he had seen a ghost, shouting something but Larna couldn't understand him. “Vampires are at the gates, vampires are at the....” shouts the guard before sword runs through his chest before being pulled back out. Larna remembers the stories that her mum told her about vampires and what they looked like but did not prepare her for the sight that stepped over the guards now motionless body. A man dresses in an unusual clothes with glowing orange eyes and the face of a seriously ill person steps over the body before five similar looking figures appear on behind him. Larna watches in horror as the figures all start to charge directly at her, waving their weapons around and looking menacing. Larna readies herself and blocks an attack before returning the favour by running the vampire through the chest with her sword. She watches as the vampire slides of her sword and his body slumps to the floor, looking as the life inside his eyes slips away. Larna only as a few seconds of relief before the next vampire is attacking her, hitting her sword as she blocks in the hope to land a successful strike.

A minute later, the guards come rushing down from the hill behind her before they stare at the sight that awaits them, Larna pulling her sword out of the chest of a vampire while five more bodies lay around. Larna turns around to see that a crowd had gathered to look at the encounter that took place inside their homes. She stands there silent, blood dripping off of her sword as the crowd just stares at her with a expression of shock mixed in with a bit of happiness.

“She killed them all” One person from the crowd shouts 

“She killed a dragon and now vampires, this woman is a hero” Another on adds before the crowd erupts in applause and shouting praise to the gods  
Larna watches as the crowd parts way as she walks up towards Dragonsreach, still praising her as she walks past. 

Larna walks through the large wooded doors of Dragonsreach, slowly walking up the stairs and noticing that the Jarl is standing in the middle of the room while Irileth and his assistant is standing either side of him. She approaches the Jarl and before stopping a few feet in front of him.

“I am impressed, killing vampires is one thing but to kill a dragon as well is some thing entirely new. I promised a reward for you when you got but what I had in mind is not enough for what you have done today. Therefore I offer you the greatest honour that I have the power I can grant, the title of Thane of Whiterun” Jarl hand Larna an amulet in the shape of the Whiterun horse and a solid iron key before continuing” Wear amulet as your badge of office and wear it proud, you earned it”

“What is the key for?” Larna asks as she puts the amulet around her neck

“ That key is for your new house down near the blacksmith, it is not fully furnished but I am sure that you can add to it over your adventures. Now I am sure you have a lot of questions about this dragonborn business but you should go and speak to the Greybeards in high Hrothgar near the summit of the Throat of the world, they will be able to answer your questions” 

“Thanks for the house” Larna says with a slight bow before leaving for her new home.

The house is not to far away from the gate and is a stones throw away from not only the market place, but also the blacksmith as well.

 

She takes out her key and unlocks the door before walking inside. The room is not fully furnished, there are a few chairs, a table and a few racks for books and weapons. Larna immediately draws her sword as an unknown woman walks down the stairs in front of her.

“What are you doing here?” Larna asks with a firm tone while levelling her sword at the woman

“I am your Housecarl,My name is Lydia. Didn't the Jarl tell you about me?” The young woman says to try and defuse any hostilities.

“What is a housecarl?” Larna asks while lowering her sword but keeping an eye on her.

“I am sworn to your service, I will protect you and all you own with my life”

“I don't need a body guard” 

“I don't have to go where ever you go. If I am not needed, I will remain here and make sure the place is sorted and stocked”

“Alright then” Larna puts her sword away but is still not fully convinced that Lydia is who she says she is.” I am off to bed now” says before walking up stairs and into her own bed room. 

The room is like the rest of the house, has the basics and is not fully furnished but has potential. Larna starts to put her weapons away when there is a knock on the door. Larna walks down the stairs as Lydia opens the door and finds an orc dressed in armour that Larna has never seen before.

“Can I help you?” Lydia asks while placing a hand on the handle of her sword

“Yes, I am looking for Larna. I was told she was here and I would like to speak to her” The orc responds before noticing that Larna has just walked behind Lydia.

“I am her, what would you like to talk about?” Larna asks while motioning Lydia to continue with the work around the house.

“I am looking for recruits to join the Dawnguard in the rift” 

“The Dawnguard?, I have never heard of them” Larna asks with interest 

“We are a group that goes out to hunt vampires and put a stop to their plague on Skyrim”

“why would you want me to join then?, I am not a soldier or even a guard” 

“I saw how you defended this city from the vampires only a few hours ago and I was impressed, I have seen only a few people with the skill to kill more than oner vampire and walk away without a scratch.”

“It will give me a good reason to travel a lot” Larna mutters to herself just loud enough for the orc to hear

“So you will think about joining us then” The orc asks with interest 

“I will think about joining as I sleep tonight” 

“Alright, look for us in Fort Dawnguard in the rift. You will find us not far along the road towards Windhelm from Riften, look for two braziers outside a cave entrance.” The orc nods to Larna before walking away and heading in the direction of the main gate

Larna walks past Lydia who is in the process of starting up the fire before walking upstairs and into her bedroom. She places her weapons on a rack before removing her robes and replacing them with a set of conformable clothes. Larna climbs into bed and falls asleep as soon as her head hits the pillow.

Larna wakes the next morning feeling a bit sore from the fighting yesterday. She put on her robes and collects her weapons before walking down the stairs, finding Lydia is awake and string a pot full of what appears to be soup.

“Here you go Larna” Lydia says while handing Larna a bowl of soup and a piece of bread.

“I am going to be off for at least couple of weeks and I don't know when I will be back.” Larna adds while looking at the soup and the bread for any traces of poison. After a few seconds of looking, Larna feels satisfied that the food is not poisoned and sits down to eat it.

Larna finishes her food in a couple of minutes before standing up and walking out the door of her house, looking back for a few seconds at her new house while Lydia is on the process of installing what looks like an enchanters table in a side room.

 

Larna's journey to Fort Dawnguard was largely uneventful. There was an encounter with a another group of vampires in the middle of the forest near Ivarstead but that was dealt with in record time thanks to a couple of explosions from a fire ball. She also came across a group of Elewen's search party but managed to walk straight past them thanks to a change of clothes and some illusion magic.

Larna eventually arrives outside a cave with two braziers outside. “This must be the place” Larna mutters to herself before walking inside the cave. She follows the cave system until she walks out into a canyon filled with plants and animals with what looks to be a small lake near the edge of the canyon. Larna only managed to spend a couple of minutes looking at the beautiful scenery when an unknown Nord walks up to her.

 

“Are you here to join the Dawnguard too?.” asks a young man before continuing while Larna stands there in silence” can I walk up with you, I am a bit nervous”. Larna just nods before walking up the path to the fort with the young nord in tow.

Larna follows the path through the trees until she is standing on top of a small hill, looking at the fort that the Dawnguard has called home. All she can see at from this view is a large circular tower with a archway connecting to a another part of the fort that is just out of view. She follows the path leading towards the fort and passes through a gap in the fence line that surrounds part of the fort. As she passes through the gap, she gets a better understanding of how large the fort is. 

After a few minutes of staring at the fort, She walks up the slope leading up to a small stone stair case and into the fort though the wooden doors. 

Larna walks through the double doors and into a large room with three rather large entrances. Larna walks towards a man who is standing in the middle of the room. 

“this is the woman I told you about Isran” a familiar looking orc says while passing through the arch on the left

“ So you are the one who killed them bloodsuckers at Whiterun, My name is Isran and I an sure you have met Durak”Isran says while indicating to the orc on his right before continuing “ I am sure that you are itching to get out there and kill some vampires but I would like to check if you have any answers before you get under way”

“Just one” Larna says before she asks carefully “what is your opinion of magic and the people who use it?”

Larna just watches as Isran holds up a hand and a sphere of light appears above it for a few seconds before the sphere dissipates. “I know a small amount of magic that I learnt during my fight against the vampires but I don't have the capabilities as more powerful mages. Why, do you know any magic?” Isran asks 

“You could say that” Larna responds before holding up both hands and letting lightning arc between them while on of the hand glows with fire and the emanates frost. Larna maintains the magic show for a few seconds before lowering her hands.

“So you are a mage then. You are very welcome here and I am sure the Dawnguard will be able to use someone of your talents to fight the vampires. All that I left to say is, Welcome to the Dawnguard.”


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter five 

Larna spends the next couple of months working for the Dawnguard, walking around skyrim and hunting down vampires where ever they may be hiding while looking for more recruits. She even managed to visit the Greybeards during a routine mission so she could learn more about herself and what a dragonborn are capable of. The fort slowly becomes busier as more recruits are brought into the dawnguard to bolster its fighting capacity against the vampires. The fort was also improved during this time, repairs were made to the structure to bring it back to its former glory while new addition were installed to further improve it. A large pen was installed so a Nord by the name of Gunmar could use it for troll training while a forge was added soon after so Sorine Jurard could make improvements. Larna slowly distinguished herself as a capable mage before becoming the Dawnguard's resident mage. She even managed to convince Isran to give her a room towards the back of the fort on the first floor so she could research on magic that can stop the vampires.

One afternoon, Larna is walking back towards her room while reading a book on the dragonborn when she heard Isran arguing with some one near the entrance.

“I warned you all and none of you listened, the vampire threat is bigger you thought and now you come running back to me”Isran barked at a man Larna has never seen before

“Listen Isran, the hall was destroyed, there are not that many of us left” the other man says before Isran staggers back in disbelief. 

“Is there anything I can do to help Isran?” Larna asks Isran in an attempt to help the situation

Isran just stands there before turning to Larna and saying in a concerned tone“you could help out with a little problem, vigilant Tolan here” Isran indicates to the man opposite him” has heard some interesting rumours about a cave and a rumoured vampire artefact. I want you to go and kill any vampires you find there and recover the artefact.”

“ I have marked the location on your map, I will meet you there.” Tolan adds while marking a location in the mountains in the middle of skyrim.

“I have a couple of things to deal with first, I will set off in an hour” Larna responds while looking at the best way to get there in the fastest time. Larna leaves Isran and Tolan standing near the entrance and walks to her room so she can prepare herself for the journey.

After spending half a day walking to the cave, Larna eventually finds the cave entrance and waits for Tolan to arrive. After waiting an hour with no sign of Tolan, Larna decides to enter the cave without him. As Larna walks through the cave, she spots a couple of what figures that appear to be vampires standing over a body. Larna decides to get closer to get a better look and thanks to her muffle enchantment in her boots, she manages to sneak up behind a large rock. Now being closer, Larna confirms that the figures are in fact Vampires and watches for a moment when she could strike. She watches the vampires closely for a advantage and once the vampires turn their back, she attacks.   
The vampires can do nothing as an explosion of fire erupts behind them and catches them on fire before a pools of fire are cast underneath their feet. Within seconds, the vampires of dead.  
“I knew vampires were susceptible to fire but this was unexpected” Larna mutters to herself as the vampires fall to the floor before turning into piles of ash.  
Larna sighs a relief but is a little curious when she walks over towards the ashes and finds she can search the bodies for items which are remarkably intact even though the body has disintegrated. As she searches the ash pile, she notices the body of an unknown person laying in a pool of blood and walks over to investigate. On closer inspection, Larna realises that it is vigilant Tolan laying on the floor with a now melting ice spike through his chest.   
“I was waiting outside for you for an hour and you were inside, you could have waited” Larna says to the body with an annoyed tone in her voice. 

As Larna walks through the cave system, killing vampires as she goes along, she notices how these ruins are a lot older than the ones she has come across over her time walking the roads of skyrim. Larna is about to give up hope on having an interesting cave system when she walks into the largest cavern she had ever seen in her life. She spends a few seconds looking around, a large stone staircase on her right leading down to what appears to be a bridge crossing a bottomless pit to a circular platform with columns that look to only be a few feet high.

As Larna approaches the stone stairs, she quickly ducks behind a ruined wall as the sound of people arguing come from the level just below her. She takes a closer look and see two vampires and their thrall talking to a topless man kneeling before them.  
“ I will tell you nothing”, the kneeling man shouts towards his vampire captors.  
This enrages one of the vampires who then pulls out a dagger from his waist belt and slashes the man's throat while responding “then you are of no use”  
As this was going on, Larna manages to place a flame rune on the stairs leading up to her and before standing up from her hiding space and throwing the fire ball she had readied in their direction. The fire ball strikes true and manages to kill the two vampires but misses the thrall which is now heading in her direction. Larna readies a incinerate bolt and waits for the explosion before moving to attack the thrall. The explosion happens as she expected but she doesn't expect the explosion to throw the remains all over the place with the head landing only a few feet away from her.

After looting the ash piles, Larna crosses the bridge towards the middle column that now looks to have a button on the top with the surrounding columns have braziers on top with a odd purple glow emanating from inside. Curiosity gets the better of Larna and she places her hand on the button and pushes down on it. She watches in shock as a spike forces its way through her hand and remains there for a few seconds before pulling back out and leaving a small hole all the way through her hand. Larna just stares at the hole for a few seconds before she waves her other hand over the wound and watches as the wound closes.   
When Larna finishes and looks around, she notices that there is now an odd purple glow emanating from the groves in the floor and heading towards one of the braziers.   
“What kind of magic is this, I have read books on magic found on the planes of Oblivion but nothing matches this” Larna thinks to herself while she inspects the brazier just out of reach of the purple glow. Larna touches the brazier and watches as it moves towards the glow while she suddenly starts to glow the same colour while some of the glow travels towards the brazier. Larna jumps back quickly and after a few seconds of checking for injuries caused by the glow, she finds no injuries and turns her attention to the next brazier.   
After a few minutes of moving the braziers around, the floor suddenly shakes and Larna watches as the floor lowers down a few feet and while a larger column of black,smooth rock appears up through the floor in the centre.   
Larna moves on closer to look at the column and when she places her hand on the rock. She jumps as a panel slides down and a mysterious woman appears inside before falling out and catching herself.   
All Larna can do is admire the woman in front of her, dressed in an unusual armour that compliments her body or more noticeably, her breasts, jet black hair that fall just past her shoulders which frames her feminine face. Larna is about to compliment the woman on being the most beautiful person she has ever seen when she spots the colour of her eyes, a nice set of glowing orange eyes.  
The first thing this mysterious woman sees when she wakes up is Larna drawing her sword while flames emanate from her other hand. 

“wait, what are you doing?, why are you pointing your blade at me?”the mysterious woman asks questioningly 

“you are a vampire and I am vampire hunter ” Larna responds in a firm voice

“I was afraid of that”

One minute, Larna is in control and next thing she knows, she is on the floor with her hands pinned by her sides with the vampire sitting on her, having flashbacks to Elenwen back at Helgen. Larna can only stare at the woman and while wondering if woman is feral with the intent of making her the first meal of the day. The vampire instead talks, maybe not.  
“look, I would love to battle to the death , there is a bigger threat than a single vampire at the moment. Can you take me home please?, you don't have to trust me but please”   
Larna just stares into her glowing orange eyes and notices the same thing that she finds in her eyes when she looks in a mirror, loneliness.  
After a few seconds, Larna nods and watches as the vampire climbs of her and offers a hand up. Larna shrugs off the hand and get up on her own accord before looking at the person she has now offered to take home. A Nordic woman who is similar in height to her with a elven dagger sticking out of her waist belt.

“All right then, my name is Serana, what's your name?” the mysterious woman asks the Larna who is standing opposite her while still trying to work out what to do.

“what is it to you” 

“I thought you would want me to call you something but I guess I can call you mortal or guide”

“fine, my name is Larna. Now can we get out of here?”

The pair cross the other bridge that is on opposite side to the other one and head towards the exit. They cross the bridge and watch as the two gargoyle statues animate and head towards them with an vacant look in their eyes. It takes a few minutes for the two to kill the gargoyles with a few fireballs from a Larna and a couple of ice spikes from Serana. 

“I thought you vampires could heal fast” Larna asks while looking at the open wound on Serana's arm caused by one of the horns from the gargoyle that got a little to close.  
“I need to feed which I haven't done in a long time, you can probably guess that I am no ordinary vampire which is why you are not dead when I first woke up ” Serana replies while looking at the blood that currently has dried to Larna's hand and arm from the button.

“can't you go and feed from one of your own or a thrall. There is a dead body back there” Larna said while quickly cleaning the blood from her hand with a rag she got from one of the pouches on her belt.

“I can, but it just is not the same as from a living one”

“well, that will have to do”

 

Serana sulks as she walks back over the bridges and heads towards the dead body of the unknown person the vampires were talking to earlier. Serana picks up the body by the shoulders and raises the body so the neck is at the same height as her head before sinking her fangs into the neck and drinking what she needed. She returns the body back down to the floor and walks back over to Larna who is in the process of removing various ores and gems found on the gargoyles and placing them into the pouches she has on her robes before standing up and walking towards the exit.

They walk in complete silence until they walk into what appears to be a large assembly hall with a fire pit in the centre. Serana watches as Larna stealthy walks towards the fire pit before being thrown into the wall behind her by what looked like a wall of force. Serana turns to see what the source of the attack was and spots what looks like a draugr death lord rising out of his seat while some other draugr appear from behind him. Serana readies herself for battle when a couple of fire balls come flying past her and exploding where the draugr are standing. She watches as the lesser draugr fall to the floor in ash piles while the death lord is struck again from what looked like a thunder bolt before it to falls to the floor.

 

“Where did you learn to do that” Serana asks Larna as she watches her heal the wound on her leg from being thrown into the wall.

“I learned that over the years from various tomes I have found and general practice. I might have given them to you but they disappear when I read them which is very annoying, some of the tomes were very hard to find”

Larna then runs towards a curved wall with various dragon markings on it. “A word wall, I wonder what it says?”

“Here lies the body of Zvala who posses the strength to kill a dragon but not the stamina to kill many” answers Serana

“Wait, you can read this?, I though I was the only one who could read this” Larna asks while the word STAMINA burns its self into her memory

“I learned it while I was young and had the time to read a few books on the subject. How can you understand this?”

“Long story” 

Serana grumbles to herself about her new guides lack of trust towards her even though they had just fought together. She follows Larna through the cave system for a few minutes before a wave of cold, skyrim air flows through the cave system, indicating a way out. Larna walks out towards the exit with Serana in tow before pushing Serana back in to the cave and drawing her sword.

“what are you doing?” Serana asks Larna with angry tone before continuing” I can go into sunlight, it is unconformable but I don't burst into flames, that is what vampires from Cyrodiil do”

“No, that is not the reason” Larna answers before there is a loud thud on the snow in front of them.”Dragon”


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter six 

Serana watches as Larna runs at the dragon while showing no signs of fear before standing there in shock as the dragon raise its head and breath fire at Larna's direction. Serana can only watch as Larna manages to raise a ward in time to intercept the burst of fire and the flames flow around the ward. She stands there in horror at the possibility that her guide died defending her. “No one can survive that, let alone a mage” Serana thinks to herself as the flames hides her from view. Serana is about to attack the dragon when the flames surrounding Larna explode and a huge pulse of force leaves Larna's mouth before it strikes the dragon, causing it to stagger back. Larna then leaps on the dragons head while it is low to the floor and thrusts her sword into the head of the dragon. Serana watches the dragon fling Larna off of its head and into a deep pile of snow while flailing about before it slumps to the floor stops moving.  
Serana is about to ask a question before she watches the dragons body glow bright yellow while scales flake off before the glow slowly swirls towards Larna who is walking towards the dragon. Larna shivers as the last of the glow dissipates and starts to walk back to Serana with a handful of bones and scales.

“ what did you just do?” Serana asks while still staring at the dragon skeleton

“ I killed it, why?” 

“you didn't just kill it, you took it's soul. You must be a dragonborn”

“So now you know what I am, I am just curious to what type of vampire you are and before you go on about being a regular vampire, I can sense a difference within you that I have not felt before”.

“Yes, I am a different kind of vampire. I am what most people call a Daughter of Coldharbour. That is the reason why I have good control over my blood lust and are stronger than the other types of vampires". Serana then watches as a small tear rolls down her cheek before asking “ what's wrong?”

Larna just stands there for a few seconds before walking over to Serana and giving her a hug while responding, “ I am sorry for what has happened to you”. Larna never thought she would feel sorry for a vampire but after reading about the ritual that causes this particular type of vampirism, she was hoping never to run into anyone who went through it. 

Serana just stands there and enjoys the hug as she can feel the warmth off of Larna's body before breaking the hug and asking” how do you know?”.

“I tracked down a lost tome when I was on the hunt for vampire lore as it mentioned something about a powerful type of vampire and I started to read through it to learn more about them. After a few minutes of reading what the ritual entails, I threw the book into a fire place in anger at the possibility of this ritual happening.”

A familiar smell hits Serana's nose and when she finds the source, she finds that Larna has got a large scratch running down the side of her arm that must have been cause by a horn from the dragon when she jumped on its head. “you know” Serana says in the hope to convince Larna to try her blood “ One of my other talents is being able to learn things about someone just by tasting their blood”.

“Can you?” Larna asks with interest before she lets her curiosity get the better of her and raises her arm so the blood from the wound drips into Serana's mouth.

 

Serana just stands there for a few seconds as she lets the blood flow over her tongue, tasting the best blood she has ever had the pleasure of having. A mixture of dragon blood and magicka that flows through her veins, coupled with Larna's youthfulness provides a taste that Serana thinks she cannot find anywhere else. She must have more but only if Larna was willing as she has found over the years that a willing participant tastes so much better. She tries to figure out away of keeping her around, she could enthral her but that might not work on someone who has the blood and soul of a dragon. She could try and seduce her which wouldn't be a problem. In fact, it would be a pleasure. 

Larna meanwhile is tapping her foot due to lost patience before asking” so, what did you learn?”

“you are a mage, you have just reached your twenty second birthday and you have the blood of a dragon”

“ you could learn that just by looking at me or watching me fight, that is..”

“you didn't let me finish” Serana interrupts before continuing “ you are the first born of your parents, you are from the mage star sign and you have recently cured yourself of rockjoint. I would watch out for bear traps in the future though as you have what looks to be the start of the rattles so I recommend you find and drink a cure disease potion when you can find one

Larna just stares at Serana before asking” you learn that all from blood” 

“ I have had practice” 

“I don't want to know how you have had that much practice, lets get going then”

Serana watches as Larna walks past before staring at how the robes hug her body. “Definitively a pleasure” Serana whispers to herself before catching up.

Serana follows Larna as they walk towards Dawnstar in the hope of catching a boat ride to Serana's home. The arrive on the hill overlooking the settlement and receive a good view of the small fishing and mining settlement. As they walk down the hill towards the inn, they hear a large amount of commotion and rush round to investigate.

“vampires” a nord shouts before being hauled into the air by the neck before the vampire takes a bite.

“stay down, I don't need you being caught”

“so you do care” Serana remarks while winking 

Larna fails to hide the fact that she was blushing before responding,”No, a Dawnguard soldier travelling in the company of a vampire is bound to set of bad signals”

 

Serana just nods before moving back behind a building and pulling her hood further over her head just in case and watches Larna with interest.

Larna rushes over and throws a fire bolt at the vampire, not to kill him but to distract the vampire enough so he would drop his meal. The plan works perfectly as the vampire drops the nord when he is struck by the bolt before drawing his axe and charging directly at her. Larna waits for the vampire to move a few feet away from the prone nord before sending a fire ball at him, killing him on impact. Larna has only a few seconds to relax as four more vampires come barrelling around the corner, drawing their weapons before charging her. Serana is about to jump out and help when she watches as a large swirl of lightning strikes the vampires, killing all but one of the vampires instantly before the last one is struck down by bolt of lightning. 

Larna lowers her hands and watches as a person walks out of the inn in front of her before turning around and shouting” Its all clear, they are dead”. She suddenly finds herself surrounded by lots of happy people, shacking her hand and offering her gifts. Larna just stands there for a few seconds before some one behind the crowd shouts “She is a mage, kill her”. The crowd goes silent as an old man forces his way through the crowd while waving his sword, trying to look as menacing as you can for a someone who has to use one hand to hold a walking stick but instead looks like a complete fool. “You kind is not welcome here or anywhere. Go back to living in your tower” the old man shouts while still waving his sword 

“Calm down you crazy fool. Can you not see the symbol on her robe? She is a Dawnguard mage who by the way, just saved your life.” shouts a member of the crowd 

Another person from the crowd shouts “She kills vampires and that is always welcome here”

“Besides, is it wise to piss off a mage. You have seen what they are capable of.” Shouts a third 

“Thank you, I will be leaving soon to deal with some vampire business to the north so you don't have to worry” Larna remarks while trying not to laugh at the man in front of her.

The crowd starts to disperse while the old man continues to stare at Larna while waving his sword at her.” Go on, clear off”. Larna just stares back as the man continues to threaten her before she raises her hands and the old man stops his threats as frost starts to emanate from her hands.  
“You should listen to your friends” Larna taunts before she sends a wave of cold air at the old man. Not enough to kill but enough to make him feel the chill . Larna just watches as the old man runs away, screaming some rather choice words before laughing loudly when the old man runs around the side of a house.

Larna watches as an unknown man walks over to her from the inn. “I would like to offer you a place to stay for the night on the house, call it a thank you for saving us when the guards couldn't”

“That reminds me, where are all the guards?” Larna asks while looking around for any sight of a guard.

“The guards are trained to cope with bandits, not a group of vampires. The guards barricaded the doors so the vampires couldn't get in, I am just glad you turned up in time. The man then spots Serana who is slowly walking towards Larna before asking” Is she with you?”. 

“Is there a problem?” Larna asks while she places a hand on her sword , just in case Serana was found out to be a vampire and he might decide to attack as a result. To Larna's relief, the man responds” No, not a problem. She is welcome to join you but I should mention that the only room I have spare is a room with two single beds. I hope that is alright”.

“That is fine, thank you again for the rooms” Larna sighs as she receives wink off Serana 

“I will show you up to your rooms when you are ready” The man responds before walking back towards the inn.

Larna is about to follow the man inside but spots a man dressed in overalls, waving at her from the blacksmith shop to come over. She walks over with Serana following behind to see what the blacksmith wants and finds him polishing a steel sword.   
“I want to give you this for helping us out in that tight spot” The Blacksmith says while handing her the sword he was just working on 

“You don't have to do this” Larna responds while taking the sword and admiring the shine across the blade.

“No, I insist you have it. It should be better than the one you carry” Blacksmith continues while pointing to the iron sword on her waist.

“Thank you. Take my sword” Larna says while drawing her drawing her iron sword and putting the new sword in its place.” I don't need it now”

“Thank you” The blacksmith says while taking the sword and placing it on the table behind him. “I am sure that you are tired and want some rest, I will not keep you any longer”.

Larna watches as the man walks back to his forge and works up the flames before she walks off to the inn. She walks into the inn and finds the Inn manager standing behind the bar while dealing with customer. Larna approaches as the customer walks off with a drink in his hands.

“Would you like for me to show you to your room”? The man asks while pulling out a key from under the table.

“ I will go up in a minute , I need something to eat first” Serana says to Larna while winking.

Larna watches as the inn keeper walks up the stairs before turning to Serana and whispering”I think there is a bandit near the main road who is trying to ambush people, feed off him okay. And remember, don't get caught”

Serana manages to find the bandit Larna mentioned and turns herself invisible, sneaking up close behind him. With one quick motion, she bites down on his neck and drains enough of his blood to cause him to pass out before he even had the chance to draw his axe. After she drains him, she moves him against a large tree before walking back to the inn, licking her lips and muttering to herself “not a good as Larna”.

Serana walks into the inn and walks up the stairs towards the last room on the right, using the directions the inn keeper gave her when she walked past him. She opens the door and manages to get a good look at Larna's bare and all the silver scars that mark the surface. 

“How did you get that many scars?” Serana asks while Larna pulls down her casual shirt.

“I got some from when I used to live in the forest when I was a child, others I got from fighting and the rest, I don't really remember how.” Larna responds before she sits down at a desk to repair the hole in her glove.

Serana watches as Larna reaches into her pack and pulls out a length of string before threading the needle and starting to work on repairing her clothes before asking “What are you doing?” 

“I am repairing a hole in my gloves that I got when a spike punched through my hand while freeing you” 

“I don't see a hole in you hand. If a spike went through you hand, there would be a hole.” Serana remarks while staring at the hand in question

“I know” Larna turns on the chair she is sitting on and holds out a hand, making a glowing orb of light appear above her hand for a few seconds before causing it dissipate. “ I know quite a bit on magic and how to heal myself is one of the perks”

“ If you can heal yourself” Serana asks with interest “ why do you have scars across your body?”

“The magic only accelerates the time it takes for the body to naturally regenerate, it doesn't repair the body. That is the reason why restoration powers cannot resurrect the recently dead and why you cannot heal daedra, the undead or machines. no natural regeneration to accelerate”

“What about me? My body can regenerate itself” Serana asks with interest

“No one knows for sure. Maybe it has something to do with magic that made you a vampire interfering with the magic from the restoration spell. Now if you will excuse me, I need to get some rest” Larna says before putting down the repaired glove on the table and climbing into bed.”Oh and Serana” 

“What?” 

“Any funny business and you are walking home okay?”

Serana just smiles at Larna before climbing into the bed on the opposite side of the room and falling asleep. 

 

During the night, Serana is woken up by the smell of ozone and the sound of a racing heart beat. She turns over to see Larna tossing in her bed while lightning arcs across her hands, muttering something about robes. She rushes over to her side and tries to wake Larna up by gently shacking her shoulders. The next thing Serana knows, she is on floor with the wind knocked out of her lungs and a concerned Larna crouched over her. 

“Oh shit, are you alright?” Larna asks while concerned for Serana who is prone on the floor 

“Yes, I am fine. Remind me never to wake you up” Serana responds while trying to catch her breath back. 

“Why did you wake me up?”

“You were having a nightmare, you would have electrocuted me and everyone in this place if I hadn't have stopped you.” 

“Using magic while I sleep, that is a new one. I normally have some ability to prevent nightmares of my mother but I think something near this place is making me lose the ability, the locals are always going on about nightmares.”. Larna remarks while sitting next to Serana on her bed.

“do you want to talk about it?” Serana asks while placing a comforting hand on Larna's lap

“Not really, but thank you for caring” Larna looks across to Serana and ends up staring directly into her eyes. Larna just stares into them for a few seconds and feeling something that she had never felt before. 

“ I am tired” Larna remarks while shacking her head slightly to break the trance. “Lets go to bed and get you home tomorrow alright”. Larna then lays on the bed before falling asleep 

“Yes, that is fine. See you in the morning” Serana responds while stoking Larna's hair for a few seconds while she falls asleep before walking over to the other side of the room, climbing into bed and falling asleep for the second time that night.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter seven

Serana is woken up the next morning by a loud thud on the snow outside and a large roar that sounded like something she encountered the night before. She quickly turns over to find Larna and her equipment were missing. Fearing for Larna's life, Serana runs out the inn and towards the sounds she heard only a few minutes earlier but instead of finding Larna in trouble, she finds her pulling her sword out of the skull of a now dead dragon. She watches Larna clean the blood off of her sword before walking towards her while the body glows and the scales burn off. 

“How does it feel?” Serana asks Larna as the glow slowly swarms her.

“The best feeling ever” Larna responds while putting away her sword. 

“So similar to the feeling vampires get when feeding off of a willing person” Serana remarks while winking seductively, rewarded with a blush from Larna.

Before Serana can make any other comment, she watches as a group of locals have started to approach. Serana pulls up her hood while the locals are distracted by the dragon skeleton behind her.

“You killed a dragon and vampires yesterday, what next? Shouts one of the crowd members that has gathered around Larna and Serana. 

“You are a Dragon-born” Shouts another

“Yes I am, please just don't start calling me that.” Larna responds while healing a cut on her arm

Suddenly, there is a shout from behind the crowd” I told you she was dangerous”

Serana shakes her head as the crowd steps aside to reveal the same old man that was shouting bad things about mages yesterday.

“Yes, mages are dangerous but not all of us harm others unless it is in self defence” Larna responds in the hope to calm the old man down “As I told you yesterday, I am only passing through on Dawnguard business so I will be out of you town soon.

The crowd turns and glares at the old man before one of the crowd shouts “You are always welcome here, don't let the old man's opinion bother you”.

The crowd slowly starts disperse while the old man just stands there and stares at Larna. 

“Do you want another demonstration of my abilities?” Larna asks the old man while flames start emanating from her hands. Larna starts to laugh as the man runs off, screaming something horrible about mages but ends up looking like a complete idiot.

“How are we going to get me home?” Serana asks. “ It is on an island”.

“ I was able to secure a boat ride to take us there but it will not be available until sun down.” 

Serana and Larna end up spending the next couple of hours walking around and talking about each other. They end up laying on top of a hill that overlooks Dawnstar, looking up at the stars that appear as the sun goes down.  
They both stare at the starts until Larna breaks the silence by asking “What will you do when you get home?” 

“I don't know, I never thought about it” Serana responds while sitting up.

Larna sits up and accidentally places her hand on top of Serana's, pulling away quickly while turning her head and blushing. After a few seconds, Larna turns back and ends up looking directly into Serana's slightly glowing eyes. Larna starts to feel the same emotions she had felt the night before, looking at the beautiful woman infront of her. 

“We should get going” Larna remarks while standing up, Serana sighing at the loss of another moment between them. 

They walk down towards the docks where they climb into the boat and start to row towards home. Part of the way through the journey, the boat becomes surrounded by fog rolling in from the sea and Serana starts to panic when she can no longer see were they are going.

“What do we do now?” Serana asks while panicing.

Larna just looks out before shouting “Lok Vah koor”

Serana just sits there stunned as the shout clears up the fog and enables her to see for miles around her.

“Where did you learn that?” Serana asks as the last of the fog clears. “Another word wall or book”

“No, I learned it from the Greybeards. Something about needing it to reach the top to meet their leader.

“You have been to the top and met the Greybeards” Serana responds in awe before continuing “What was it like up there with the Greybeard?”

“I have met them a couple of times and learned quite a bit. I left after a day so I could return to the Dawnguard, they get a bit suspicious when I am out for long periods of time.”

“anyway” Larna adds after a few seconds of silence before asking“Have you any stories to tell?”

Serana then spends the next couple of minutes telling the tale of her visit to a Nordic ruin and highlighting how gullible the draugr. Serana was about to tell the part about when she came across a ruin with a death lord when she feels a head fall into her lap, Larna being fast asleep.

“She must have worn herself out rowing” Serana whispers to herself while stroking Larna's hair and staring out into the distance. As Serana stares out to sea under the moonlight while the oars paddle themselves thanks to a little unconventional magic, she thinks the question Larna asked her on top of the hill, what was she to do when she got home. She will not be able to keep Larna around with her mission with the Dawnguard and also it will not be easy to find her with her travelling once she leaves her side. She just looks down and admires Larna who is fast asleep on her lap, looking at how beautiful she was and how she was going to miss her. She suddenly notices that lightning has started to arc across her hands and her heart has started to beat rapidly, another nightmare. Not wanting to be electrocuted, Serana wakes Larna up while being cautious of her reflexes.

“What?” Larna stutters while attempting to wake up 

“you were having another nightmare”

Larna sits up and rests her head on Serana's shoulders before adding “I thought the effect that place has would no longer affect me when we are this far out, I should look into it when I get the chance”

“do you want to talk about the nightmare ” Serana asks in the hope to learn more about her before she disappears 

Larna just stares out into the distance while the moon reflects off the water before breaking the silence a few seconds later” My mother was killed by some soldiers who were after me. I killed them when they attacked me but there was nothing I can do for my mother has she laid on the floor. They killed her and now I am all alone...” Larna stutters before starting to cry. Serana just sits there and wraps her arms around her, telling her it will be alright. Larna lifts her head up and ends up staring directly into Serana's glowing orange eyes while the boat softly rocks.

 

“you have beautiful eyes” Serana remarks while wiping away a tear off of Larna's cheek

“not as beautiful as yours “ Larna responds while slightly blushing but not turning away. 

Serana leans in to kiss Larna and their lips just about to touch when the boat runs aground, knocking Larna back with Serana following behind and landing on top of her. Serana climbs out of the boat and offers Larna a hand up, giggling because she landed face first onto Larna's chest. Larna staggers out of the boat, still blushing from what just happened.

Serana leads Larna inland while holding her hand, Larna noticing how cold Serana's hands are, walking along a path until Larna gets her first sight of what Serana calls home. A large castle that rivals even the Fort dawnguard in size with a watchtower just left of the jetty when they disembark. The castle is less rounded than Fort Dawnguard with parts falling off with age but is still very defendable with a large bride leading up to the gate.

Larna stops walking suddenly and reaches into her bag and pulls out a medium size box “Just a little something to remember me by”. Larna hands Serana the box while continuing “ I know that we may never met and you have been my only friend in so long so thank you. Just open it when I am gone okay”

Serana just smiles at Larna as she takes the box before putting the box in her bag.

“Also, I know about the Elder Scroll in your pack”

“How?, it is well hidden. Did you look in my bag?” Serana asking with interest but a little concerned that her privacy may have been invaded

“ No I didn't look in your bag. I am a mage who has been looking for odd artefacts for some time. Something that powerful gives off a small but noticeable aura of energy that magic users can detect, the same way magic users can detect each other. I don't know why you didn't tell me about it but I won't hold it against you, lets get inside” 

 

Serana just stands there and nods before leading Larna up the bridge, Larna being cautious of the gargoyles as there are about three on either side of the bridge, looking similar to the ones who attacked them back at Dimhollow Crypt.

“Lady Serana is back. Open the gate “ Shouts the watchman enthusiastically 

The portcullis rises up and the watchman opens the wooden double doors to allow Serana and Larna access into the castle. 

“Just let me talk first okay” Serana whispers to Larna while they walk into the main room.

“What are you doing her?” Demands an elven vampire before noticing Serana follow on behind he takes a quick look to make sure it really is her before running over towards the balcony that looks over the main dining hall and shouts,“ My lord! Everyone! Serana has returned”

Larna watches as Serana walks down the stairs and stands next to a man dressed similar to how she is, staring at her as she approaches him

“My long lost daughter returns at last. I trust you have my elder scroll”

“After all these years, the first thing you ask me is about the elder scroll, of course I have it” Serana respond while starting to get annoyed as her father cares more about the scroll than her

“Of course I am delighted to see you, my daughter. Must I say the words out aloud”

“Yes” Larna mutters to herself which earns a glare off of the man before he continues 

“Only if your traitor mother was here, I would let her watch this reunion before putting her head on a spike. Now tell me, who is this stranger you have brought into our hall 

“This is my saviour, the one who freed me”

Harkon turns to you and says “For the scroll and my Daughters return, you have my thanks. Tell me, what is your name.

“you care more about that scroll than your own daughter, no I will not tell you my name” Larna snaps back in disgust about how Harkon treats his only daughter 

“Very well, you should watch how you talk to someone of my status and power. I am Harkon, lord of this court. By now, my daughter has told you what we are”

“You are vampires” Larna's hand resting on her sword handle, remembering her promise to kill all vampires but hesitates to act upon it when a quick head count of the room reveals just how outnumbered she is. 

“Not just vampires” Harkon says as he notices Larna's stance shift defensively before he continues” we are among the oldest and most powerful vampires in Skyrim”

“What happens now” Larna asks while working out escape plans should anything go wrong 

“You have done me a great service, and now you must be rewarded”. Larna's skin craws at the last part as Harkon continues” There is but one gift that is equal in value to the elder scroll and my daughter. I offer you my blood. Take it and you will walk as a lion among sheep. Men will tremble at your approach and you will never fear death again”

“And if I refuse your gift?”

“ Then you will be prey, like all mortals. I will spare you this once, bit you will be banished from this hall. Perhaps you need convincing? Behold the power” Harkon steps backwards while maintaining eye contact with Larna before slowly lifting off the floor. Larna watches on as shadow starts to swirl and form around until Harkon is no longer visible beneath the darkness. Suddenly, there is an eruption of shadow and blood while a grey skinned creature with wings takes the place of where Harkon once stood. “Behold the power” Harkon shouts before continuing” This is the power that I offer. Now, make your choice”

“I refuse to be one of your kind” Larna barks back. “ You care more about that stupid scroll than your own daughter. I will not help anyone who treats their own like a possession.” 

“ How dare your talk to me like that” Harkon shouts towards Larna. “ You cannot talk to a Lord and get away with that”

“ What you going to do, Banish me” Larna taunts back

“you asked for it” Harkon shouts back. He raises one hand up which reveals a sphere of swirling purple and back energy which he then throws at Larna like a ball. There is an explosion of energy around Larna but Harkon and Serana are surprised to see Larna still standing there but with hands emanating flames and a angry expression just visible under her hood 

“You really think you can banish me, after an incident with a conjurer and summoned daedra, I took precautions” Larna says while pulling out a dragon shaped amulet from around her neck before continuing” Anyone who stands in my way as I walk out will stuck with fire” Larna says with anger while a ball of fire appears in each hand. 

Harkon watches as a few vampires try to stop walking up the stairs but end up ash piles, staining the carpeted floor of the castle. He quickly gives a command for everyone to stand down before watching Larna fling open the double doors and leave. He turns to Serana who is wiping away a tear and says “your pet has some anger issues” 

Harkon watches as Serana runs off into her bed room that hasn't changes since she left and slams the door behind her. She falls onto the bed and starts to cry into her pillow at the thought of losing the only person who cared for her in so long. After a few minutes of crying, she suddenly remembers the gift Larna gave her outside the castle and quickly pulls out the bag. She places the box on a nearby table and opens it, revealing a ring box, a odd shaped potion and a note resting on the top. 

Serana picks up the note and starts to read it.

“I hope that one day we will meet again but I know that may never happen so I want to give you this present to show how much our short time together meant to me. “

“The ring is not a proposal but something to remember me by...”

 

Serana reaches into the box and pulls out the ring box, slowly opening it to reveal the gold ring inside. On closer inspection of the gold ring. She finds a flawless diamond embedded into the ring while ring itself glows blue ever so slightly for a few seconds before it dissipates. Putting on the ring, Serana feels a sudden chill flow from the ring and into her hand, it doesn't hurt but it is noticeable. Serana picks up the note and continues to read while the feeling fades slowly.

“I made the ring just before the dragon attacked in Dawnstar with the ores I had in my bag, I bet you didn't think I could smith. You probably felt a little cold when you put the ring on, don't worry about it, I enchanted it to provide you with better heat resistance. I should help you stay safe when I am not around”

 

Serana sheds a little tear as she continues reading the note 

“The second present is a little less conventional but I am sure someone of your tastes will like it. I learned how to produce this a while back when learning more about vampires. ”

Serana reaches into the box and pulls out a ornate red potion with a cork in the top. She pulls of the cork out and looks into the bottle, noticing a dark red mixture inside with a similar smell. ”This potion has got blood in it” Serana mutters to herself while spinning the mixture inside” I wonder who's blood it is. Serana picks up the note and continues to read where she left off.

“I know how you felt when you tasted my blood back outside the cave and thought it would be a fitting gift. Call it a thank you for being their when I had my nightmare and not drinking my blood.”

Serana chuckles at the last part as she continues to read “Know that I will always remember out short time together with fondness. I hope we meet again some day but if not, good bye and farewell. Signed Larna” 

 

A tear forms in Serena's eye as she reads the last part, falling onto her bed with the letter held close to her chest. She had never felt this way about anyone before and she didn't know what to do. She drifts off to sleep, still clutching the note as she starts to dream about her now lost friend.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter eight

Larna quickly leaves the castle and moves towards the boat, keeping a close eye on the castle doors just in case anyone tried to follow. Once she is certain that nobody is following her, she jumps into the boat and starts to row back to the mainland as fast as her arms would allow. As Larna rows away, she looks at the castle that is now slowly disappearing under the dense fog and starts to think about Serana. She could go back for her but after the confrontation with Harkon, she would most likely to be killed before she got into the main hall.  
The boat rocks gently with the movements of the waves, Larna is slowly rowing to the thought of her only friend. Larna is concentrating so hard on thinking about Serana, she forget that the shoreline behind her is not that fat away and is surprised when the boat runs aground, throwing her back into the boat Larna climbs out of the boat and stands on the shoreline for a few seconds, staring out to sea in the hope that she spots a boat appear from under the fog. After standing there for what felt like hours to her but was only a few minutes, Larna gives up hope and starts to walk towards Solitude so she can get a lift back to the Dawnguard. 

As Larna walks towards the hills in front of her, she notices a stone fort with a few strange looking soldiers guarding it and decides to investigate. She slowly approaches, keeping an eye out for any signs that she has been spotted, and ends up behind a tree that gives her a good viewing angle to look at the fort without being discovered. Larna starts to fill with anger when she spots that the soldiers that are on top of the fort are dresses in the same way as the ones that killed her mother nearly a year ago now. Larna walks out behind the tree and watches a guard turns around and shouts into the courtyard below him “ Is that the Nord that we were told to look for?”

“It can't be, she is somewhere in the rift” shouts another.

Larna slowly approaches the archway that acts as the entrance to the fort and stops before the threshold of the archway, watching out for any ambushes that they might be setting up. She watches as a hooded figure slowly approaches while a couple of soldiers follow on behind.

“That is the person we are looking for” The hooded man says before the soldiers draw their weapons. ”Larna, by the authority granted to me by the Thalmor, I order you to surrender immediately”

“Just one question, Where can I find Elenwen?. I need to have a little chat with her” Larna shouts back while channelling lightning through her hands. 

“I don't know where. All I do know is that you are wanted by her and to be taken alive, something I plan to do. Take her alive “

Larna watches as the soldiers start to pass through the archway while the hooded figure sends a lightning bolt between them. She manages to raise a ward in time for the bolt to strike the ward and not her.

“It is no use Larna. Surrender immediately” Demands the hooded figure while he readies another lightning bolt.

“You should train your men to watch their surroundings, an archway acts as a good bottleneck for both the attackers and defenders” Shouts Larna back with emphasis on the last part, taunting the man as she readies a fireball. The hooded figure is about to pull his men back out of the archway when Larna sends a fireball in, striking all the soldiers and killing them instantly. The hooded figure is thrown to the floor a few feet away and is horrified when he watches Larna walks through the ash piles that were his men with her weapon drawn, staring at him with a angry visage that is made the more scarier by the shadow caused by her hood.  
“Where is Elenwen?” Larna demanded while pointing her sword directly at him, the tip only a few inches away from his throat.

“I d-d-d don't know” The figure stuttered, shacking with fear at the imposing woman standing above him.

“ Where can I find Elenwen” Larna demanded again, getting increasingly angry at his attempts to lie to her.

“I do..” The figure whispers before he lies dead on the ground. Larna just stares at the sword she forced through his throat in rage and sighs before pulling the sword out and wiping the blade clean. Larna loots the bodies of anything that could be of use before walking towards the door into the fort. She puts her ear the door, listening for any signs of an ambush on the other side. 

“be quiet, she might be on the other side of the door” Whispers someone attempting to talk quietly but with no success

“stop moving and be ready” Whispers another but with more authority in the tone.

“I have always wanted to try this and this seems to be the best place to do it” Larna mutters to herself as she charges a fireball with both her hands. She steps back a few paces and sends the fireball crashing into the door, blowing it off it's hinges and into the room. The people inside can only watch in shock as the door files into the opposite wall, shattering on impact and killing a couple of soldiers, before Larna walks through the smoke with her hands glowing with fire.

“That was fun” Larna says as she kills the remaining soldiers that were not already killed by the door.” After searching the bodies for anything of value, Larna starts to work her way though the fort in the attempt to find more information about Elenwen or the group she works for.

The fort was full of soldiers that indented to defend it but instead ended up as smouldering piles of ash, staining the stone floor. After half an hour of fighting, the fort was completely clear of defenders which means that the fort could be searched without any interruptions. Larna spends a few minutes searching the rooms throughout the fort with little success but she does come across a locked trap door hidden under some broken wood panels.

A couple of splinters and broken lock picks later, Larna had managed to open the hatch and climb down. The room was completely dark due to no light sources but after a little alteration magic, Larna was able to get better look at the room she was in. Large bookshelves are pinned up against the wall opposite her, filled with what looks like a large collection of books which looks to be mostly fiction but with a few books of non fiction thrown in the mix as well. Larna's attention is quickly drawn to the small table in the centre of the room with a large chest beside it. She walks over and immediately notices a wanted poster in with her name on it before picks it up. “This picture is me while I was working with the Dawnguard and I have been with them for a while now. How did they get this?” Larna mutters to herself while rolling up the paper and placing it in a pocket in her robes. She starts to look through the various documents scattered across the table and comes across a document with “Elenwen, for your notes” stamped across the top. Interested in what it has to say, Larna picks it up and starts to read.

 

“ After a few weeks of searching, we have managed to locate the mage who goes by the name of Larna as you requested. We tracked her to a relatively new group group known as the Dawnguard.

The Dawnguard are a group of vampire hunters that operate out of a heavily fortified location in the Rift. It has only just started up so there is not much information on the group but you will find an note along with this letter which will contain all that we have managed to discover so far. “

Larna quickly looks for the attached note mentioned but is unable to locate it. ”The must plan to write the note later” Larna mutters to herself before she continue to read the document.

“ At the current moment, we are unsure about her movement outside the fort as she is very capable of moving about undetected but we have managed to get someone inside the fort. I will not disclose the name just in case this letter is intercepted by any unwanted personnel but rest assured, we will know when is the best time to execute the second stage of the plan with complete success.

Until then “

Larna just stands there for a few seconds to consolidate all the information she has just read before muttering to herself “So that is how they know what I look like. I need to return to the Dawnguard to let them know there is a mole in their ranks.” After collecting anything else of use from in the room or anywhere else in the fort, Larna quickly makes haste to the city of Solitude in the hopes of securing a carriage ride back to the fort. 

On the way back, all Larna could think about was the letter and what it contained. “Who is this person and what this plan” Larna asked herself over and over again in her head as she rode in the cart. The answers she came up with for the first question scared her as she thought of the group as a second family but the answers to the second question scared her even more. 

As soon as she arrived at Fort Dawnguard, Larna rushed inside, ever watchful of anyone looking suspicious, and approaches Isran.

“Long time no see” Isran remarks as Larna walked into the fort “what took you three days to complete a mission that should have taken only one, a day and a half at a stretch?” 

“Has it really been that long?” Larna answers back” I am sorry.”

“what is wrong?” Isran asked with a more concerned tone than Larna is used to. “ What happened to the best vampire hunter I know?. Did something happen while you were out?”.

“You could say that” Larna says as she pulls out the document she recovered from the Thalmor fort and hands them to him.

Isran opens up the documents and starts to read them at the pages, Larna watching how Isran's facial expression changes to various states of emotion.

“Where did you get this?” Isran asks while handing the documents back. 

“I recovered it from a fort I ran across in the north.” 

“How do you want to deal with this?” Isran asks while keeping an eye on anyone eavesdropping on the conversation. “I could handle this but I am sure you have a plan”

“I do” Larna responds in a more confident tone than before” Act like nothing has happened and I will work out who it is. This means that I can work on identifying the mole without risking other people letting them know that I am on to them.”

“Alright then, I will not help for now but keep me in the loop as I may be able to help”

“Okay then” Larna responds before slowly walking back to her room.

“Oh, I forgot to ask, what happened at the crypt?” Isran says towards Larna just before she disappears out of sight

“I ran into a group of vampires in the cave system, trying to recover what they thought was an artefact but turns out to be a woman by the name of Serana. After a little conversation” Larna chuckles quietly to herself at the last part “ She convinced me to take her back home to her family in the north.” 

“Is that all what happened?” Isran asks, curious on why it took so long to complete a simple recovery mission.

“That is it but I should add some important details that may shed some light on how screwed we are at the moment” Larna watches as Isran's attention focuses entirely on her and noting else as she continues ”Serana is a the daughter of a powerful vampire who is far stronger than any vampire that I have previously come across. Oh, and they have an Elder scroll.

“What” Isran shouts before he continues to bark at her “ Why didn't you try and recover the scroll?”

“If I attempted to recover the scroll in the lair of one of the most powerful vampires in Skyrim, we would not be having this conversation now which means that you wouldn't know how large the vampire threat is. Besides, I managed to kill a few on the way out which should count for something”. Isran just stands there for a few seconds in complete silence before Larna says “ If that is all we need to discus, I am going into my room so I can do some research on why a group of vampires need a Elder Scroll and what to do about recovering it.”

“Alright then Larna” Isran responds in a calmer tone than what he previously used “Go and do what you do best and I will remain here”

Larna just nods before she starts to walk to her room in order to find the books she has on the Elder Scrolls in the hope they contain something helpful. As Larna walks towards her room, she starts to feel that she is being watched but cannot see anyone when she turns around. She opens the door to her room quickly and walks inside. As Larna closes the door, she notices a shadow on the wall a few feet away which could only be caused by someone hiding around the corner. “So there is a traitor here “ Larna mutters to herself as she locks the door behind her.

Larna walks over to the large collection of books that she has managed to gather over her short time with the Dawnguard and pulls out the small number of books on the lore and history behind the Elder scrolls. After spending what felt like hours, Larna finds no mention of what a vampire could use the Elder scrolls for. They only contain prophecies and not any magical powers outside the fact that they can cause insanity or blindness to the majority of people that attempt to read them. Larna is about to give up hope when she notices that a name appears in nearly all the books with one even been written by him. Deciding that it the best lead to follow, Larna decides to find this expert and the best place to look for them is at the College of Winterhold.

Larna puts away the books and walks back to Isran in the main chamber.

“So you are off again are you?” Isran jokes after Larna informs him of her plans “ While you are out there, look into the rumour that a vampire is masquerading as a visiting noble in Winterhold and if true, deal with it” 

Larna just nods before she walks out the door and into the canyon. When she starts to walk towards the exit, she notices that a bird not native to skyrim appear from the tower in front of her and fly off into the distance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter and the next one play at the same time. Doing it this way makes it easier for me to know what I am writing and possibly making it easier for readers to understand what is happening as well.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter nine 

Serana wakes up the morning after Larna was forced out of her life, still clutching the note written by Larna. She tries to concentrate on anything else but eventually ends up thinking about Larna again anyway. She climbs out of bed in the hope that doing something will keep her mind off her. “Why do I feel like this?, I have never felt like this about anyone before” Serana thinks to herself before she notices the blood red coloured potion laying on the table opposite her. Getting up and reaching over, Serana opens the bottle and decides to have a small drink.

As she takes a sip, Serana starts to have flashbacks to when she last tasted the blood and the person who provided it. “That body, those beautiful green eyes.” Serana mutters to herself before she brakes out of her trace, noticing that she has managed to accidentally drink nearly half of the potion with out realising. “I must find her, I must have her”. Serana adds as she decides that she should go after Larna. 

Serana prepares to leave behind the castle and pack all of her belonging into a bag. As Serana slides the ring Larna gave her on her finger, she spends a few seconds admiring the ring and all the time and energy that it must have taken to make such a beautiful piece of jewellery. “Now I have to find her” Serana says quietly as she walks out of the room. 

Just before Serana leaves the castle through the main doors, she remembers that she came here with an Elder scroll. An artefact that if left in her fathers hands, it could become not only danger to herself and skyrim, but possibly the whole of Tamriel as well.

Serana spends the next hour looking throughout the castle, looking in all the places it could be but is still unable to find any trace of the scroll anywhere. She looks in the library, in the dungeons and even the training room with no success. 

“Where is it?” Serana asks herself quietly while looking in the library. She then remembers how protective her father is over the scroll and tries to work out where he might keep it. After a few seconds of working it out, an location pops into her head. The safest place for the scroll also happened to be the most dangerous for her, Harkon's room. 

With a quick glance into the room and finding no one inside, Serana slowly creeps inside and climbs the stairs to the balcony overlooking the room. “Where is it?” Serana mutters to herself while looking in a wardrobe. Serana closes the wardrobe a little to hard for her liking and hopes that no one heard it. She starts to panic when she hears the coffin led below her swing open.

“Who's there?” Harkon demands as he gets out of his coffin, looking around the room for any indication that someone else is in the room as well. Serana slowly moves behind a large wooden column and casts invisibility on herself. She slowly peers behind the column to find Harkon staring directly at her. She just stands completely still, hoping that she hasn't been discovered. She starts to relax when his attention is suddenly drawn to something happening outside. As Harkon leaves the room, Serana spots a long golden cylinder laying in the coffin and after getting a bit closer, she realises it is the Elder scroll she has spent a good hour trying to find. 

After quickly making sure that no one is coming into the room, Serana decides that this is the best time to strike and runs down the stairs for the scroll, grabbing the scroll and moving towards the door.

Serana starts to panic when she hears footsteps approaching the room and quickly jumps into a nearby wardrobe, leaving the door slightly open so she can look out. She watches as Harkon walks back into the room, muttering something about vampire stupidity before looking into the now empty coffin. 

“Where is it?” Harkon shouts as he looks around the coffin. “Where is it?” Harkon shouts again with increasing anger. Serana watches in shock as her father rips apart the wooden coffin with his bare hands and growls. He suddenly calms down and sniffs the air, whispering “vampire” before walking out the room and in the direction of the main hall. 

Serana remains inside the wardrobe for a few seconds to make sure he doesn't come back. Confident enough that he won't be coming back, she climbs out the wardrobe and slowly makes her way to the main hall, keeping her invisibility so she can evade detection. 

Serana watches as Harkon walks into the main hall which is now full of vampires before walking into the middle of the hall and shouting “ Someone has stolen the Elder scroll and I want it back now” to a now silent audience.

“The vampires in the room start to talk while a few more start to appear from the surrounding rooms to find out what all the commotion is about. 

Harkon repeats himself again with increasing anger in his voice “ I want the Elder Scroll back and I want it now” 

“I haven't seen it” A vampire on the outskirts of the room shouts out

“Me neither” Shouts another

“Well, how about this for motivation. No one is eating until the Elder Scroll is found and the thief identified” Harkon barks back.

Using the momentary distraction provided by her father's rant, Serana slowly sneaks around the room, avoiding the vampires that are running in and out of the room. She is half way into the room when Harkon says loudly “It is in here, I can feel it” Serana freezes while Harkon looks in her direction, hoping that she hasn't been discovered.

Serana slowly moves towards the exit and is about to stand on the first step on the staircase when the worst possible thing happens.

Serana suddenly hears Harkon shout “ You there stop”. She turns around to see Harkon pointing directly at her while the rest of the vampires have stopped talking and are also looking in her direction. “Surrender immediately and return what is mine” Harkon demands with increasing authority.

Serana just stands there for a few seconds, gathering as much courage as she could muster before lowering her invisibility spell and barking back “you mean what is mine. I was the one who was trapped with it for hundreds of years”.

“No, I believe it still belongs to me after your mother was the one who stole it from me. Fitting that her daughter is now the one to steal it from me this time” Harkon says back with an unusually calm demeanour. 

By now, Serana has noticed that the other vampires throughout the room have drawn their weapons and are slowly approaching her. She slowly moves up the stairs as the vampires advance towards her, keeping an eye on everyone to make sure she can prepare herself for an attack. When she reaches the final step and within a few feet of the door, Serana makes a run for the door. She is just about to open the door when a fireball explodes behind her, burning her. The fire burns her extensively but thanks to the enchantment on her new ring, the fire only seriously burned her and not kill her outright.

“NO, DON'T KILL HER. I NEED HER ALIVE” Harkon shouts as he raises the fireball throwing vampire off the floor with his bare hands.

Harkon turns around in time to watch a seriously wounded Serana push open the doors with her shoulder and disappear out of sight. He throws the now dead vampire's body against a nearby wall and gives chase while the rest of the court follow on behind. Harkon throws open the door, finding the now dead watchman on the floor with an ice spike through his chest before watching his daughter fall into the other boat left at the dock. 

Serana manages to get the boat to move my making it row on its own before clasping into the boat, listening to the sound of ice spears flying over head and just missing the boat. Serana slowly loses consciousness as she hears Harkon shout from the top of his voice “I WILL GET YOU AND YOUR LITTLE PET TOO, THERE IS NOWHERE IN TAMRIEL YOU CAN HIDE”

Serana slowly regained consciousness a few hours later, noticing the boat had stopped rocking when it beached itself on the shoreline. She tries to sit up but the pain from the injuries across her body are just too much for her to handle, causing her to lay back down in the boat. Fortunately for Serana, it was early in the morning which meant that the sun hasn't full appeared in the sky. 

Serana just stays still in the boat while she heals herself enough that the crippling pain has gone down enough for her to move. “ I need to feed and soon otherwise I am not going to last long in the sun” Serana mutters to herself as she climbs out of the boat and starts to walk towards the hills, keeping under the shade the nearby trees are providing. 

As Serana slowly walks inland, she notices a stone fort through the tree line which appears to be on fire. She decides that the fort would be the best place to look for a way to Larna and possibly a blood source as well. 

“When she arrives, she sighs at the sight of no corpses or people about, just a burning fort with piles of ash all around. She slowly walks inside the fort, keeping an eye out for anything to indicate that there is something she can drink. She looks around but instead notices that the door into the fort has been blown of its hinges and tries to work out what caused it. “There is only one person I know who is capable of this” Serana mutters to herself before remembering the half full potion of blood in her bag. She quickly pulls out the potion and drinks the contents, savouring the unique taste as the last of the blood flows down her throat. 

“I owe Larna twice now” Serana says as she wounds across her body heal rapidly and her mind begins to focus now that there is less pain to deal with. “I think I know where to start looking” Serana mutters to herself as she remembers what Larna said about living somewhere in the Rift.

The walk towards the Rift was uneventful which was a relief to Serana as it would enable her to evade her fathers attempts to find her. On her walk around the Rift, she comes across a fortified settlement and decides that this is the best place to find where the Dawnguard were located. She is about to talk to the guards standing outside the main gates when someone behind her shouts” Vampire”. Serana turns around, hoping to that she hasn't been discovered. She sighs a relief when she discovers the shout was from a group of soldiers clad in an unusual armour who are in the process of attacking a hooded figure with glowing orange eyes.

The fight only lasts a few minutes more as a lone vampire is no match for a group of soldiers who indent to see it dead. With a final bolt to the head, the vampire falls to the floor dead while what looks like the only woman of the vampire hunting party to be standing over the body. “Lets go back to Isran and tell him we got his vampire” The woman says triumphantly as she pulls the bolt out of the vampire's head and holsters her crossbow. 

Serana slowly approaches the group, tuning herself invisible as she walks over so she can confirm that the party belong to the same vampire hunting group that Larna belongs to. She gets close enough to notice that one of the men carries a shield with a symbol that matches the one Larna has on the back of her robes, she has found her guides.

Serana slowly follows the group as they start to walk back the way the came, making sure to stick to the shadows where ever she can so she can remain undetected if her invisibility should fail mid walk. As Serana follows on behind, she manages to eavesdrop on the party's conversation, talking about who has killed the most vampires or what is the most interesting way to kill a vampire. Serana doesn't pay much attention to what they are saying as she walks behind them but that changes when they start discussing a topic a little closet to her heart.

“Who do you think is the prettiest woman in the fort?, Sorine, Ingjard” one of the men asks the group while the woman rolls her eyes at the immaturity of her fellow soldiers.

“What about the mage?, have you seen her?” The another responds

“Which one?” The third adds

“There is only one idiot” the first one taunts while the other laughs “There are magic users in the group but only one is a mage”

“Oh her, she is hot” The third man responds, trying to maintain composure from his stupid question and the resultant taunting.

“I know, that long blonde hair, those green eyes” 

“I love how tight her robes are, that is something I wouldn't mind getting under”

“She is a quiet one though” The first one sighs ”She barely speaks to anyone apart from Isran, Sorine and Gunmar”

“from what I here” the second one adds while leaning towards the others before continuing” the quiet ones are usually the best. And loudest” before laughing 

“Have you seen her working at the enchanters table out back, when she bends over to work on enchanting a weapon, all I want to do is walk up behind her and make her scream in front of everyone” The third man remarks while the woman of the group starts to get annoyed at the fact of how explicit they on there fantasises towards a fellow member.

“Will you shut up” the woman barks back to the astonishment of the others 

“What, just because you want her as well. I see how you look at her as she walks past” the first man taunts to the chorus of laughter from the others 

“So what” the woman remarks while keeping complete composure to the taunts as she continues ” Have you seen her fight, I bet you she could put you on your arse without breaking a sweat. All the while, remaining the prettiest person in the room.”

“speaking of pretty, you should see her working at the forge making weapons” the first man adds, interrupting the woman's rant ”When she works in there, she isn't wearing her usual robes and wears more loose and revealing clothes instead. When her sweat drips down her-”. The man is suddenly interrupted by a smack on the back of head by the woman

“You have got to be joking, you know she would kill you if she heard this. Besides, from what I hear, she's taken” The woman says before chorus of sighs erupts from the men

At this point, Serana is so close now that the group could probably spot her if they were not as focused on their conversation. Serana starts to wonder, has Larna found someone, she could have met someone before she met her. Serana thinks about what to do next when on of the men ask a similar question to the one she was thinking. 

“Who is this lucky person?, I am sure I can convince him to disappear so I can have her”

“Firstly, it is a she” The woman responds. 

Serana perks up a bit at the mention that her dragonborn is into women then hears the best news she has heard all day

“And secondly, her name is Serana or something like that” the woman continues “that is all that she talks about.” 

Serana sighs a relief when the woman finishes her sentence but start to panic when she realises not only that the group have stopped in their tracks but also how close to the group she got. Thanks to some quick thinking by Serana and the lack of awareness from the group, Serana manages to turn herself invisible again so she wouldn't be discovered. 

“Home sweet home” the woman says as she sighs a relief as the group stops outside a cave not that far from the main road. 

“Time to go in and tell Isran the good news” the first man adds before continuing” I hope the mage is there, I wouldn't mind saying hello if you catch my drift” 

This earns another smack in the back of the head before the woman walks inside while the other quickly follow on behind and into the cave. Serana readies herself as she is about to walk into the most dangerous place for a vampire but the reward of finding Larna certainly does outweigh the risks.

Serana slowly sneaks through the cave system, making sure she remains undiscovered. She walks the cave system for what feels like ages but she sighs a relief when she feels the cold air flow past her, signalling the end of the road, or at least the cave part.

Serana exits the cave and just stands there for a few seconds as she admires the view, looking at the beautiful scenery that she didn't expect to see surrounded on all sides by mountains. As she looks across the large lake, admiring the view, she spots what appears to be a group of vampires hiding in the tress. Serana runs over towards the group of Dawnguard soldiers in the hope of warning them about the ambush but arrives to late as the vampires jump out of the trees and start attacking the party. To Serana's astonishment, the vampires don't manage to even wound anyone in the opening and are instead forced into being more defensive. The fight continues on with the Dawnguard appearing to have the upper hand until the female soldier is knocked to the floor from a vicious attack. She looks up at the sword wielding vampire who is about to run her through but is instead thrown into a tree when an ice spear punches a hole though the vampires armour, killing it instantly.

Serana walks over and offers a hand, pulling up the woman before reading herself as a another vampire appears from the tree line and runs directly at her. The fight only lasts maybe a minute more before it ends with the only the Dawnguard soldiers and Serana left standing, surrounded by the bodies of a dozen vampires

“Thanks for that, we probably would be dead if you hadn't shown up” The woman says to Serana, thankfully not noticing the fact that Serana is not a regular Nord. The woman walks over to her group and whispers something to the others of her team, Serana manages to listen in thanks to her heightened hearing ability. 

“No funny business” the woman demanded while maintaining a quiet voice” We need recruits as skilled as she is and if you scare her off, you won't only have Isran to deal with” raising a fist at them for emphasis. 

“Come on then” the woman says to Serana while walking away from her stunned colleagues. “Lets get inside, Isran and Larna is going to want to meet you”.

“Is Larna here?” Serana asks in the hope to find Larna's whereabouts 

“I don't know, she might be. Why? Do you know her?” the woman responds with interest.

“A little, she helped me out when I was in a dark time in my life.” Serana answers, making sure that she doesn't give too much of her self away. 

The woman just nods before she starts to lead Serana up the path towards the fort, telling her all she knew about Larna and her adventures with the Dawnguard. Serana just listens as she walks up the slope to the fort, hanging on to every word the woman is saying about Larna. 

“Well, here we are” The woman says as she stops suddenly, standing a few feet away from the wooden doors leading inside the fort. Serana just turns around and is amazed by the fact that she has managed to walk straight through all the defences the Dawnguard has set up to stop people like her without so much as a question on what she is doing here” 

“That was easy” Serana whispers to herself as she gazes at the defences below her” I didn't think walking through the front door would work but here I am” She then remembers why she came and turns around, watching as the woman opens the door and leads the group inside.

 

Serana follows behind and watches as the group stop in front of a main she guesses is Isran. She listens on as they chat about what happened in the mission and return home. She then notices that Isran is staring directly at her with a confused look on his face. 

Serana starts to work out whether she should stay or run when Isran starts to walk over to her while saying “Who is this you have brought with you?”

The woman responds “We encountered her on the way back from our mission. She helped us kill the vampires that had set up an ambush just after the exit into the canyon and if it wasn't for her help, we probably wouldn't be having this conversation now”

“I have been hearing reports about ambushes on Dawnguard soldiers for a while now but nothing this close to home.” Isran says before he turns his attention to the group” Go and get some rest while I talk to the new recruit, we can talk about your next assignment in the morning”.

Serana watches as the group she followed walk towards the archway to her left before moving out of her sight. She then turns back to find Isran staring at her with an unusual expression on his face before asking “So, you have come to join the Dawnguard?” 

“Do you mind if we talk somewhere a bit more private, I don't like the stares I am getting from some of the men” Serana responds in the hope of talking to Isran about Larna in private and should the conversation go wrong, she would only have one Dawnguard soldier to deal with.

“Sure, lets go upstairs and talk in the meeting room I have set up” Isran responds which is a relief for Serana. She then follows him up the stairs to the first floor while Isran asks “ So what do you specialise in? From what I hear, you like to use magic” 

“ I normally use magic but I can use a dagger if I am needed to” Serana answers, trying not to give too much away and to make sure that Isran doesn't get suspicious about her. 

The conversation stops when they arrive outside a room before Isran opens the door and motions Serana to walk inside. Serana walks inside while making sure she is not walking into an ambush. She gets half way inside when she hears the door behind her slam shut. Turning around, Serana finds Isran standing there with his weapon drawn with an angry expression on his face.

“What are you doing here vampire?” Isran demanded “ You have either got a death wish or there is something here you want”

“A little of both” Serana respond back sarcastically.

“Seriously, what do you want?” Isran barks back, clearly not a fan of sarcasm.

“You wouldn't believe me if I tried” 

“Try me” 

“I am looking for a friend” Serana responds, making sure she doesn't give too much away.

“There are no vampires here, they all die before they can even reach the front gate” Isran boasts 

“What about me?” Serana taunts back 

“you are no ordinary vampire are you?, you illusion capabilities far exceeds what we know off”

Should I take that as a compliment?” Serana responds “ No I am not an ordinary vampire, I am far superior to what you have come across before”. Serana shivers at the comment as it reminds her of something her father would boast about.

Isran's hands clench the handle of his weapon a little harder and his stance shifts ever more offensively, indicating to Serana that he is getting increasing annoyed by her taunting. This is confirmed by Isran demanding with a increasingly angry tone “What are you doing here and explain why I shouldn't kill you where you stand?” 

“Because Larna would be incredibly pissed if you do” Serana responds 

Isran just stands there stunned for a couple of seconds before asking” how do you know her name? Not many people know her by her real name.”

“She rescued me and took me home” 

“So you are Serana then. From the way she talked about you, I thought you would be taller” Isran jokes before shifting back to his offensive stance 

“So you know about me then, should I be worried?” Serana taunts again.

“So, what do you want?” Isran demands for the second time

“I want to talk to her and her alone” Serana responds back 

“Larna is not here, she is off securing another artefact and should be back in a few days” Isran says before continuing “ you will remain in the fort until Larna returns and if you so much as touch anyone working for the Dawnguard, I will end your life regardless of what Larna wants” 

Serana is about to say something but watches as Isran lowers his weapon before walking out the door and slamming it behind him. When Isran leaves, Serana sighs a relief and takes a seat in a nearby chair. 

“The wait might be along time” Serana mutters to herself before adding “But definitively worth it.”


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter ten 

Serana spends the next week waiting for Larna to return to the fort. She stands on the balcony that makes up most of the first floor and watches the people down below her go about their daily routine. She enjoys listening to the conversations being held below her, paying a particular interest in any discussions that involve Larna.   
Unfortunately for Serana however, listening to the conversations on the balcony seems to be the only enjoyment she can find as Isran has forced her to remain on the first floor. Giving reasons such as it is for her own safety but she suspects that it is a ploy to restrict her movements. Isran is Gracious enough to allow Serana to feed on the prisoners that the Dawnguard bring into the fort, mainly consisting of vampires but there has been a few cases of non vampires being brought in.

After listening to a particularly interesting conversation about the women who occupy the fort, Serana starts to walk towards the door that leads to the top of the tower as it provides a good vantage point of the whole canyon and more importantly, a good view   
As Serana walks past Isran's room, she hears him shout after her “And where do you think you are going? We had a deal remember, I don't kill you and you remain on this floor until Larna returns”.

“I am getting some fresh air” Serana shouts back, feeling like a child that has been grounded with a rather unusual punishment should she misbehave. She quickly moves towards the door, hoping to avoid being dragged into another conversation with him. 

Serana starts to relax as she steps out onto the tower roof top, feeling a cool breeze pass by as the wind flows over the tower. Its early morning as the sun slowly start to appear over the mountains surrounding the fort, casting a calming haze over the canyon. Serana just looks out and admires the view in front of her, how the sun light reflects off the lake while the light fog that fills the canyon slowly start to dissipates.   
Serana is so caught up by the view that she fails to notice that someone has walked onto the roof and is slowly walking in her direction. The person is only a few feet away when she realises that someone is there, turning around quickly to make sure she isn't in any danger. 

“What are you doing up here?” Serana stutters as she turns around, finding a man dressed in light Dawnguard armour and spots an unusual amulet barely visible under his armour. 

“I am feeding the birds that come to nest up here” The man responds, holding what appears to be a box full of bread rolls. “What are you doing up here?” The man then asks in kind.

“I am looking out for someone” Serana responds while turning her attention back to the path that leads into the fort.

“I am just going to feed the birds then I will be out of your way” the man responds before walking towards a bale of hay which has got quite a few birds sitting around it. Serana recognises most of the birds as they are common throughout Skyrim but there is one bird that doesn't appear to be from anywhere in Skyrim. Serana keeps an eye on the man as he feeds the birds with the various sized rolls of bread from his bag.   
As Serana watches the man feed the birds, she notices that he tries to discreetly attaches a roll of paper to the unusual bird's leg before encouraging it to fly off. He then promptly feeds the rest of the birds in what looks to be an attempt to make it look like he was there to only feed the birds but fails under Serana's observant eye. The man puts down the box next to the hay bale and walk back inside. 

“That was odd” Serana mutters to herself before she notices a lone figure has appeared and is walking along the path towards the fort. Thanks to Serana's good eyesight, she is slowly able to spot defining features of the person. 

The figure seems to be wearing black robes with the hood up. “That could be anyone” Serana mutters to herself as she continues to stare at the unknown traveller. As the figure gets closer, Serana starts to notice more defining features about the person, the red embroidery on the robes, the blonde hair flowing out of her and the emerald eyes just visible under the hood.

“There is only one person I know who looks like that” Serana mutters to herself excitedly before rushing inside the fort.

“Larna is here” Serana shouts happily as she runs back into the fort

“How do you know?” Isran shouts back as he walks out of his room.

“I spotted a hooded figure approaching the fort and I recognise that body anywhere” Serana answers, barely able to contain her excitement

Isran raises an eyebrow at the last part Serana mentioned before saying “Alright, you go and wait in there”. Isran points into the room behind him before continuing “ I am going to have a little chat with Larna when she gets in”

Serana just shrugs her shoulders and does what he says, walking into the torture room that for some reason is the room adjacent to his.

A couple of minutes later, the doors swing open and Larna walks inside, lowering her hood and reaching into her bag.

“Isran, I am home and I brought a present” Larna jokes before bringing out the elder scroll she recovered from the tower of Mzark in Blackreach. “ Hang on, I went all that way to find out you have one here”

Larna is slightly unsettled by the way Isran is staring directly at her without saying a word about her or the Elder Scroll in her hand. Isran says suddenly” We are going to find out why a vampire came all the way here looking for you “ Larna puts away the scroll as Isran continues “You and I are going to have a little chat with it, come on”.

As Larna walks up the staircase, she starts to wonder who it could be. There is only one vampire that would ask for her by name and with the feeling that another Elder Scroll is nearby, she is pretty confident she knows who it is.

When Larna walks into the torture room, her suspicions on the vampire's identity is confirmed when she finds Serana standing there.

“This vampire showed up while you were away, I know it is the one you found in Dimhollow Crypt. Says its got something important to tell you” Isran says before walking out, Larna suspects however that he has only left the room and remains in the room next door.

Serana watches Isran leave before turning to Larna, finding her staring directly at her with a big smile across her face. Serana is about to say something when Larna walks up to her and gives her a big hug. She returns the hug for a few seconds before breaking the hug and saying “I suspect you thought you would never see me again”  
“what are you doing here” Larna asks.

Serana gives her best hurt expression before saying with a smile” I know what you mean, I would rather not be here but I need to talk. It is about me and the Elder scroll I was buried with”

“What about you” Larna asks in concern for Serana 

“It all comes back to my father. I am guessing this part out but my father is not a good person even by vampire standards” 

“I got that impression when I first met him”

“He wasn't always like that, he stumbled on some ancient prophecy and just got absorbed by it” 

 

“How do you stumble onto a prophecy” Larna asks jokingly 

“you just.., Haha very funny” Serana responds back before continuing” The prophecy said that vampires would never have to fear the sun again. Anyhow, mother and I decided we didn't want to invite a war with all of Tamriel, so we tried to stop him. That is how I ended up sealed underground with the scroll.”

“You took a big risk coming here, you could have gotten yourself killed. Then what would I have done” Larna adds while Serana starts smiling at the last part

“I know, something about you makes me think I can trust you, I hope I am not wrong” Serana says in a more serious tone 

“You know I will help you” Larna responds, earning a sigh of relief from Serana “we now just need to convince the others” 

“Well lets get going then, I am nothing if not persuasive”

Larna leaves the room with Serana in tow, finding Isran sitting at a nearby table while reading book on vampires “So what did you learn from that thing” Isran says as he glares at Serana over the top of his book 

“There speaks of a prophecy that tell of the ability to block out the sun, a big benefit to a group of powerful vampires” Larna responds as Isran closes his book and places it on the table

“And you believe her, how do you know she isn't making this up” Isran barks while still glaring at Serena. 

“Regardless of whether you think Serana is unreliable, I have done my on research into the Elder scrolls and some where in mine, there is a mention of this prophecy but I need some one to read it”.

“Alright, now explain why I shouldn't kill this bloodsucking fiend where it stands” Isran barks as he stands up and rests his hand on the hilt of a blade resting on his waste. He watches is surprise as Larna moves so Isran would have to go though her to get to Serana. Serana just stands there and admires how defensive Larna is over her. 

 

“Because we are going to need her help, why would she risk her life coming here?“ Larna barks back, watching as Isran backs down from his earlier advance towards her 

“Maybe it has got a death wish, maybe it is insane. I don't care.” Isran grumbles before sitting back down” Fine, it can stay. If it so much as lays a finger on anyone here, I will hold you responsible” He then turns his attention to Serana “ you got that, don't feel like a guest because you are not, you are an asset, a resource. Got it?” 

“Thank you” Serana sarcastically remarks before continuing” I will remember that the next time I am feeling hungry”. Serana then smiles while showing her fangs, running her tongue across them. She wouldn't normally antagonise a vampire hunter but with Larna standing in the way, she feels like she can take the world on and win.

“Come on then, lets get out of her, we have some work to do” Larna says as she walks out of the room with Serana close behind. Serana follows Larna into her room and looks around the room, noticing the large collection of vampire lore on the shelves that run around the room.

“In case you didn't notice the thing on my back” Serana remarks sarcastically “ I have the Elder scroll with me” 

“I know, I can sense them in close quarters remember. Besides, I have one as well.” Larna responds while pulling the Elder scroll out of her bag.

Serana just stands there shocked before asking” How did you get that?, they don't exactly grow on trees”

“I know, all it took was a trip to the library, a mad wizard and a dangerous Dwemer ruin” Larna says triumphantly before adding “I did get a cool book from a daedric prince”.

“You have met one?” Serana asks, surprised at the last part 

“I met him while helping out a wizard open a locked box of Dwemer construction, the wizard thought it contained the heart of a god. How wrong was he” Larna responds, placing her Elder scroll in a nearby secure case.

“why? What happened?” Serana asks 

“As soon as we opened the box and walked inside, the wizard was killed before he could even reach the book. There was nothing I could do for him so I grabbed the book and left. As I walked out the cave, the prince made me his champion, mentioning something about meeting again on his plane in Oblivion and an island north somewhere north of Skyrim”

 

Serana just stares at Larna, hanging on to every word about meeting a daedric prince before asking when she finished “So who was this Daedric prince” 

“Hermaeus mora or something like that” Larna responds while running her hand over the scroll before continuing “You know we cannot read the Scrolls without running the risk of going blind. We need to find some way of reading them” 

Larna and Serana stare at each other, trying to work out what to do about reading the scrolls when the silence is broken a few minutes later.  
“ you know there are some people that can read the scrolls without going blind” Serana says, breaking the silence and earning a smile off of Larna. “There is one problem however, they are half a continent away, in Cyrodill”

“What are they called, I may have met one” Larna responds

“Moth priests”

“I have seen one. I met him while I was at the mages college in Winterhold while I was looking for information on Elder scrolls. We can go there but not today,it's getting late I need some sleep”

Serana stares at Larna as she closes the lid on the Elder scroll case before starting to sort her bed ready for her to sleep in. Larna is in the process of sorting her pillows out when she suddenly finds herself on her back, laying on the bed with Serana sitting on top of her. 

“What are you doing” Larna gasps as she looks up at Serana.

“I am getting my proper hello” Serana cheekily responds before leaning in and trying to kiss Larna while running her hands across her body.

Larna starts to panic as she start to have flashbacks from when she was attacked by Elenwen back on Helgen and pushes Serana off her. She watches as Serana falls off the bed, hitting the floor with enough force to shake the glass bottles that rest on a nearby table.

“ What are you doing?” Serana shouts as she rubs her leg 

“I am sorry” Larna quickly apologises as she helps Serana up and sitting on the bed next to her.

“what's wrong” Serana asks, remembering how tense Larna was when she was on top of her.

“I was attacked by a woman a while back and I still haven't got over it” Larna answers while tears start to form in her eyes

Serana reaches out and wipes away the tears and suddenly finds herself staring into Larna's emerald green eyes, feeling very sorry for her. They both continue to stare into each others eyes before Serana finds herself leaning in for another kiss, Larna turning away at the last second.

“I am sorry” Serana stutters quickly before looking at the ground

“For what?” Larna responds while placing her hand on Serana's 

“I over stepped the line” Serana adds, slowly lifting her head up.

“Just give me some time. After the death of my mother, I don't know who to trust”

“And time you shall have, I am a vampire remember. Time is something I have quite a lot of” Serana jokes before standing up and walking out the door 

“Where are you going to sleep?” Larna asks as she watches Serana walk to the door.

“I don't really sleep but I normally rest anywhere I can” 

“Why don't you sleep on the chair over there” Larna responds, pointing to a large chair that lives in the corner of her room. “I know it is comfortable enough to sleep in, I have done it enough times”

“not as comfortable as sharing a bed with you” Serana thinks to herself before remembering how fragile Larna is at the moment so she keeps that thought to her her head. She sits in the chair and watches as Larna climbs into bed, still wearing her robes. “She must have trust issues to wear her robes to bed” Serana mutters as Larna lays in bed, looking at her.

“You know you eyes glow in the dark” Larna says as she stares at Serana 

“Just go to sleep” Serana responds before closing her eyes “Just go to sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The following morning, Serana is woken up by loud shouts and metal scraping along stone coming from the entrance chamber. She slowly gets ups while rubbing her eyes, stretching out the kinks she gained from sleeping on the chair. When Serana looks to the other side of the room, she notices that  
Larna is no longer in her bed and her gear is missing. Serana starts to panic when she hears someone shouts something aloud but she picks up on one word “Vampires”,

Serana runs into the entrance way in the hope of finding Larna but instead watches on Dawnguard soldiers staggering into the fort, covered in blood and clutching various parts of their body.

“What happened?” Isran asks as he appears out from under one of the archways.

“We were ambushed on our way out by a group of vampires not that far from the gate” One of the less injured soldiers responds, tying a rag over the open wound on his arm.

“How many were there?” Isran asks as even more soldiers come walking through the door.

“There were too many to count, at least a few dozen with what looked like reinforcements not that far behind” 

“this wasn't an ambush, this was an attack” Isran remarks to the shock of everyone nearby

“The thing is though Isran, the fight wasn't over when I left” One of the soldiers adds to Isran's surprise.

“Wait what? How did you get out then” Isran asks in response to the previous statement, curious to why they retreated in the first place 

“I can explain that” someone says as they walk in to the fort.

Everyone including Serana is surprised to see Larna walking in, wiping her blade with a rag to clean off the blood dripping from her sword. “There was too many of them so a told them to retreat so I could use some of my more destructive magic without the risk of collateral damage.”

Everyone in the room just stands there stunned as Larna looks up into the balcony above her, smiling when she spots Serana staring back at her. Larna waves Serana to come down before saying sarcastically “ Well, as fun as this was, we better be off”

“Where are you going now?” Isran asks as he watches Larna heal a couple of the wounded soldiers nearby. “We need you here”

“We need to find someone of reading the scrolls so we can find a way of stopping this prophecy from happening and unless you have someone here I don't know about, we need outside help.

Isran is about to say something when he watches Larna's attention turn to Serana has she walks into the room, smiling back at Larna.

“And you are planning to take that thing with you?” Isran remarks as he watches Serana stand next to Larna, resting his hand on the sword at his waist. 

The whole room goes completely quiet as Larna moves so she is standing between Isran and Serana . “Yes, is that going to be a problem?” Larna says, breaking the silence caused by the stand off.

Isran just stands there for a few seconds, stunned at how protective Larna is over a vampire but decides that it wouldn't be best to annoy a mage as powerful as Larna. “Fine” Isran says, clearly angry about how Larna stood up to him. “You can take her with you but watch out, you can never trust a vampire”

Isran and Larna continue to stare at each other, tying to make the other one blink before Isran backs down and starts to tend to the wounded in the room.

Larna just turns around and walks out the door, healing some of the wounded as they walk into the fort while Serana follows closely behind. 

As they leave the fort, Serana watches as a lone bird takes off from the tower in front of them and fly off into the distance.

“What type of bird is that?” Serana asks as she points it out. “I have never seen one before” 

“It is not native to Skyrim and I believe it is used primary by groups of people for to carry messages around”

“I didn't know the Dawnguard use birds to carry messages” Serana asks curiously.

“We don't” Larna responds quickly, Serana picking up a lot of concern and worry in Larna's tone. Larna notices the concerned expression on Serana's face before continuing” I will explain on the way”

Larna spends most of the walk around Skyrim telling Serana about her dealings with the Thalmor, the attack on her home and subsequent encounters since then. Serana just listens in shock in the way Elenwen attacked Larna back in Helgen but is more concerned about when Larna mentioned when Larna talks about the possibility of a Thalmor spy in Dawnguard.

Serana is about to mention the encounter she had on top of the tower a few days ago with a similar bird and the person who feed it but is interrupted when Larna walks into the Four Shields tavern in Dragon Bridge. 

Larna walks up to the only person currently in the inn and asks” Have you seen a moth priest go past? It is really important that we find them”

The woman just stares at Larna with a blank expression on her face for a few seconds before answering “What is a moth priest?” 

Larna just sighs and starts to walk away when the woman continues “ I did however see a carriage pass by a few minutes ago with a couple of imperial guards walking along side , maybe that is who you are after” After thanking the woman for the information, Serana follows Larna as she runs out the door and in the direction provided by the woman.

“If we move fast, we can hopefully catch up and make sure the moth priest is safe” Larna says as they cross the bridge.

They continue along the path leading in the same direction the cart was heading and are about to give up hope in finding the cart when Serana spots something laying in the middle of the road.

“Hang on a sec” Serana says as a familiar smell hits her nose. “ there is fresh blood nearby”

Larna slows to a walking pace while allowing Serana to lead on in the direction the smell is coming from. As they approach the object laying in the road, the smell of blood gets stronger.

“It's a body” Larna says as she gets close enough to check the body for signs of life. “ And it matches the description of the guards that the we were told were escorting the cart” 

After a few seconds of kneeling next to the body, hoping to find any clue to what happened, Larna hears Serana shout “ There are more bodies over here by this over turned cart”. Larna moves the body out of the road before walking to where Serana was shouting from. Larna finds Serana looking around an upturned cart with what appears to be more corpses of guards dressed in similar armour to the first body they came across.

“So we found the cart, but what happened to the Moth priest” Serana asks aloud as she searches the cart for clues to what happened before asking Larna “Have you found anything yet” 

“No” Larna shouts as she fails to find anything of use on the third body she found next to the cart.

“No me neither, I don't see.... hang on” Serana remarks, catching Larna's attention at the last part. “I recognise that armour. 

“what is it?” Larna asks in the hope that a clue has been found. “you found a clue on what happened to the cart?” Larna continues as she walks over, watching as Serana pulls out a roll of paper from the body and begins to read it. 

“Yes. I know who attacked the cart and more importantly, I know where the Moth Priest is being held” Serana says triumphantly as she hands Larna the roll of paper.

After a few seconds of reading the paper, Larna says. “So they captured the Moth priest and are holding him in a place called Forebear's holdout. If I remember correctly, that isn't that far away”.

After searching the area for anything else of use and a quick check of the map, Larna leads Serana in the direction of the cave. As they walk along while following the map, Serana's attention is drawn to the glowing cross marked on the map which appears to be moving as they move.

“What is that cross for” Serana asks with interest.

“It is where we are on the map. After a few times of getting lost due to not knowing where I was, I made this so I could never get lost” 

“What magic to you use to make this then?”

“Why don't you work it out” Larna responds when she hands Serana over the map

Serana is about to make a comment about her magical abilities when she notices a familiar smell, the strongest concentration emanating form the glowing cross." This map has your blood in it” Serana says as she makes the connection. As she stares at the map, she is suddenly finds herself being tempted into licking the glowing cross on the map in the hope that she could taste Larna's blood again.

“Yes” Larna says, breaking Serana's trance over the map. “This map uses my blood to work out where I am in Skyrim and possibly outside but I haven't left Skyrim to find out.”

“Where did you learn how to make this kind of map” Serana asks, interested on how Larna is able to learn so much about magic from various schools.

“I leant it a few months back when I was attacked by a lone assassin as I was walking along the path towards Whiterun. The assassin was carrying a small book on tracking and one chapter was on enchanted maps”

Serana is about to ask about the assassin encounter but looses her trail of thought when Larna suddenly points out a small cave entrance just off the main path. As Larna approaches the cave, she is suddenly stopped by Serana as she sniffs the air. “Hang on a second” Serana says as she continues to sniff the air “ There are quite a lot of vampires in there and I think there is a very powerful one amongst them” 

“I know” Larna quickly replies, causing Serana to stare at her in confusion. After a few seconds of being stared at, Larna continues as she holds out her hand and causing a purple sphere of mist to appear just above it “I use this spell before I walk into any cave so I know what to expect. This spell enables me to detect undead but I know the spell to detect the living”

“How does it work” Serana asks as she continues to stare at Larna, in awe in her magical talents.

“I don't really know” Larna says as she rubs her chin “ maybe in detects life force which is why there is two spells, one for the living and one for the dead. All I know is that when I use this spell, anyone who is undead starts to glow which enables me to see them, even through things”

Larna doesn't wait for a reply and just walks in, hearing footsteps behind her as Serana follows on behind. They follow the cave system as it leads opens up a path through the rock until they enter a cavern that rivals the size of the one Serana was found in back in Dimhollow Crypt. The cavern looks like any other apart from one defining feature, a large fort that looks to be built inside it. The fort is currently is disrepair but is still imposing never the less. The path leading 

“Wow” Serana says in awe as she walks into the cavern, her attention quickly drawn to the large blue glow emanating from one of the fort's higher platform, the source of the glow just out of view.

“Unless the vampires in here have started to grow mushrooms” Larna says jokingly as her attention is also drawn to the glow “ Then that glow is caused by magic and that is something that we should look into”

This earns Larna a slight chuckle from Serana before a couple of vampires walk out from the shadows to the left of them, followed closely by a few Death Hounds. After a few seconds of whispering and hand motions, Larna and Serana move into the best position to ambush the unwary souls below them. Just as the first vampire starts to turn around, Larna throws a charged fire ball directly at the group which is then subsequently followed by a few ice spears from Serana. 

The ambush went ahead as planned, the fire ball explosion managing to kill most of the enemies below and the few that were fortunate to survive the explosion were killed by an ice spear provided by Serana. They both fail to notice however that another Death hound had entered the fray from behind and was slowly sneaking up on them, only making its presence known by biting Larna in the leg 

“ Ahhh, get this thing off me” Larna shouts as she tries to push the hound off her leg but only manages to make it bite down harder 

Serana quickly rushes over and with a quick kick to the head, she manages to stun the creature enough to break its hold on Larna's leg and promptly kill it with an ice spear to the head. She turns around once she makes sure that it is dead and nothing else is going to sneak up on them, watching as Larna tends to her bite wound by tying a piece of cloth over the wound while waving a glowing hand over the wound, closing it up the best she can.

“Its cold” Larna says as the wound slowly closes up

“I know, I have been bitten by them before” Serana quickly replies as she watches the wound slowly disappear until only scar and bruises remain 

Serana helps Larna up, noticing that Larna is limping about as she walks. “I thought that magic heals you” Serana asks as she watches Larna continuing to limp as she walks.

“It does, but magic can only do so much. It has healed the worst of it and by body can take care of the rest. 

Serana follows Larna as they walk along the path towards the fort's entrance, ever careful of the gargoyles that sit on the wall beside them. They eventually arrive out side the fort's entrance and after looking through the holes in the ruined doors to make sure no one was inside, the venture in. Larna and Serana walk on opposite sides of the fire as they look around for any signs of an ambush until the meet up again on the other side of the circular courtyard. Larna leads on as the sneak up the stairs leading up to the platform where the blue glows originates from.

As they move into view, the source of the glow becomes identifiable. A large spiral of blue energy spins in the centre of the room while what looks like a old man is standing in the middle. 

“The vampires are using this to break whoever is in there” Serana whispers as she crouches behind Larna “and I guess that man inside the glow is the moth Priest” 

“So how do we get him out?” Larna whispers back 

“We need to find the Weystone focus that is controlling the magic” Serana answers, feeling proud that for once, she knows more about a subject than Larna does. “and I am guessing that the man on the balcony up there has the focus” Serana continues as she points to the other end of the room.

“I will take the main one while you deal with the others” Larna whispers as she moves into the room. 

Serana nods and moves to one corner of the room while Larna sneaks to the other, making sure there are not anymore vampires or their hounds hiding in the shadows. With a quick nod from Larna, they start their attack and the room explodes in a variety of colour, the red and orange from Larna's fire attacks mixing in with the blue and purple spells provided by Serana. 

A few minutes later, Larna and Serana are surrounded by dozens of vampires and their hounds, feeling proud of their accomplishment to take on so many without a scratch.

“Now for the moth priest” Larna says as she searches the bodies for the Weystone.

“I am a little hungry, I might eat something while you deal with the moth priest” Serana adds, spying up the Nord thrall laying on the floor next to it's dead master.

“No need” Larna responds with a smile, pulling out a familiar red bottle and throwing it over to Serana

“What is this?” Serana says as she catches the bottle and pulls the cork out. “ Is this? You shouldn't have” Serana continues as she takes a sip from the bottle provided by Larna, feeling the familiar tingles she had when she first tried Larna's blood 

Larna doesn't wait for any response and walks up the stairs to the balcony overlooking the glowing blue swirl with the newly discovered weystone in hand.

Serana watches from below while drinking her potion as Larna places the weystone on top of the rock, watching as the stone slowly disappears into the rock that it is sitting on. When the stone finally disappears into the rock. Larna and Serana stand back and watch as the blue swirl in the centre of the room starts to dissipates, the blue light slowly dimming down as the magic disappears.  
They both continue to watch this happen until all the magic has dissipated, leaving an old man kneeling down on the floor in the centre of the room. 

“Are you alright?” Larna asks as she approaches carefully, checking for any signs of mind manipulation and brain washing.

The old man slowly stands up and starts to walk towards Larna, glowing with a faint red aura while he draws his sword. “ you killed my master” the old man says as he points his sword at Larna, “ and now I am going to kill you”. The old man doesn't give any warning and throws himself at Larna, swinging his sword with the grace of a fighter that has many years to practice with the sword.

Larna just manages to raise her sword in time to block the first attack before she finds herself under attack again by the old man. Larna manages to continue blocking his attacks but is not able to keep up with the amount of swings the old man is throwing at her. With a thrust of the sword, the old man manages to pierce Larna's defences and catches her arm with the tip of her sword.

Larna screams in pain as the sword tears through her skin, leaving a nasty cut across her arm. 

Serana is about to help stop the old man but watches as the old man is struck by a pulse of force from Larna and is thrown across the room, striking the unforgiving rock wall on the other side.

Fearing for the old man's life, Larna rushes over to the old man to check to see if he is till alive while tending to he head wound from where is struck the wall.

“He is alive but unconscious, we can move him once I have treated his wounds” Larna says out loud as she waves a glowing hand over the man's head.

After a few seconds of watching Larna heal the old man until his wounds disappear, Serana jokingly says “I will carry him back to fort Dawnguard. Unless you want to see if you can fit him in that bottomless pouch of yours”

“Are you sure you want to carry him all that way?” Larna asks as she stands up 

 

“ I am stronger than I look and beside, look at the cut on your arm” Serana responds while pointin g out the cut on Larna's arm.

Deciding not to argue, Larna slowly leads Serana out of the cave and towards Fort Dawnguard, taking as many sides roads a possible to avoid any confrontations. As they walk along the final road, Serana notices that the unusual bird she found on the top of the tower a few days back is currently flying over head and is about to mention this when she is interrupted by Larna

“No sudden moves but I think we are being followed” Larna whispers as her hands glow with a purple mist

“How many” Serana whispers back, tying to listen out for any signs of movement behind her.

“I don't know” Larna replies, trying to work out who it is and coming up with a good possibility on who they are. “ I want you to take the moth priest inside while I deal with the people following us”. 

Serana is about to object but after hearing the concern in Larna's tone, mixed with the expression on her face, she decides that it would be best to follow what Larna suggested.

Serana nods and runs down the road, ducking into the cave entrance as soon as she arrives. She turns around to find Larna has stopped walking and is now facing the stalkers, fire emanating from her hands while a large group of armoured people appear from all around.

Serana runs as fast as her body will allow considering she is caring a body over her shoulder. She manages to run through the cave system and out into the canyon the Dawnguard have made their home. She continues to run until she reaches the wooden palisade wall marking the entrance way to the fort, noticing a familiar figure walking out the gates as she arrives.

“So you have managed to find the Moth priest but this is not how I expected to meet him” Isran jokes as he walks towards Serana, flanked by several armed soldiers. “hang on a second, where is Larna?” Isran demands once he notices that Larna is not standing between him and Serana like she normally does.

After a few seconds of catching her breath, Serana says quickly” She is outside the canyon, dealing with a group of people who were following us” 

“Vampires?” Isran asks as he draws his weapon.

“I don't think so, they were dressed differently. Some were wearing bird shaped helmets” Serana replies.

Isran is about to ask another question when a loud bang erupts from outside the canyon. “quickly, you two grab the man and take him inside. The rest of you, I follow me” Isran orders while pointing to people before running in the direction of the source of the explosion.

Serana hands the Moth priest over to the two guards before following Isran, fearing the worst about Larna's safety.

Isran and Serana are greeted by an unforgettable sight, the ground in front of them littered with the various bodies of people while patches of grass burn slightly. Serana scours the sight before her in the hope of finding Larna walking towards her.

“LARNA” Serana screams as her worst suspicions about Larna are confirmed


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for how long this took to finish and upload, I didn't think that many people liked the story so I put it on hold. if you would like the chapter and want me to continue writing, feel free to tell me by either adding a comment or emailing me.   
> Thanks again for the positive comments.

“Clear a table in the dining room and tell the healer get down here, we have a seriously injured person coming in” Isran shouts as he bursts into the fort, stunning everyone in the fort entrance and shattering the usual quietness held throughout the fort. “Didn't you hear me” Isran barks at the stunned soldiers in the fort. 

Everyone in the entrance suddenly run off in different directions as the main doors swing open to reveal Serana standing there, holding someone in her arms. Serana says nothing and runs past the small crowd gathering to find out what is happening.

Serana runs into the dining room in time to see one of the larger tables in the center of the room being cleared, its contents carelessly being knocked to the floor in the attempt to clear the table as fast as possible. Once the table is cleared, a large white cloth is placed across the table before Serana places the body held in her arms on top of it, making sure to rest the head gently on the rolled up piece of cloth placed to act as a pillow. 

Moments later, a feminine voice rings off from the main corridor into the room “ So who needs my help?”. A young woman appears as she slides her way through the crowd “Normally Larna takes care of the more serious injuries to allow me ….. Oh god, what happened Larna?” the young woman continues before her expression changes to match the mood through out the room, complete horror.

The healer looks down in horror to the the state Larna is in, looking at the large cuts across her body and the various sized stab wounds in her chest before being drawn to the three large arrows sticking out of her shoulder. Serana suddenly finds herself being stared at by everyone in the room. She looks down to her robes where everyone else is looking and is shocked to discover that her robes are soaked in so much blood that is is visible even though her robes are a mixture of back and crimson red

“Please say you can save her” Serana says as she looks back to the healer, the sadness in her eyes visible to anyone looking at her.

“ I will” the healer responds before attempting to heal Larna.

Serana and the rest of the Dawnguard watch anxiously as the healer starts to work on Larna, removing the arrows sticking out her chest and closing the wounds with strips of cloth. Once satisfied that the wounds are dealt with, the healer begins to wave her hand over Larna, glowing radiantly as her healing magic attempts to heal Larna.

After a few moments of pacing up and down the room while noticing the wounds across Larna's body are failing to heal, Serana shouts ”Why is it not working, she should be getting better.” 

“I can explain that” a loud voice bellows out from behind the crowd, the crowd dividing and revealing the moth priest that Serana and Larna had save only hours ago. Serana draws her dagger and stands between the moth priest and Larna laying on the table. After a few seconds of silence caused by the confrontation, the moth Priest holds up his hands and continues “Let me help, I believe I know what is affecting Larna and I wish to help save her after she broke the hold that the vampires had over me.” 

Serana just stands there for a few seconds before turning back to Larna face, noticing the colour in her face slowly draining away before lowering her dagger. “So what is wrong with her?” Serana asks, wiping away a tear as she lowers her dagger.

“The symptoms match a poison I have come across many times and is known as a capture or kill. The simple purpose of the poison is to disable the target so they can be taken without a fight or should the person escape, the poison would kill them” 

“So we can just use a cure poison potion on her then and that will cure the poison” Serana responds with a slight smile, reaching down into her pack to pull a red bottle out of her pack. 

The moth priest shakes his head and with a sorrowful expression on his face, he continues. Watching as Serana's smile disappears. “That will not work. The poison is cannot be cured unless you know what was used to create it. Even though you know the base ingredients, you still need to know what else was put in so you can counteract the added ingredients. That is why it is so popular with groups and organisations. Just because you know what made the poison, doesn't mean that you can cure it”

“So why is my healing spells not working on it?” The healer pipes up while she begins to use non magical alternatives to help Larna's wounds recover.

“The poison cripples the body's natural healing ability while slowly harming the body. The poison is so effective that it has banned in several provinces including Skyrim and Cyrodill.” 

Serana just looks down at Larna and starts to worry about losing the only friend she has had in a very long time. Serana sits down, takes Larna's hand and listens as Isran begins to talk to the moth priest about the poison. As she does this, she notices a person in the crowd is not getting involved in conversation with others and is just staring at Larna. 

As she continues to stare at this mysterious person, Serana suddenly remembers where she has seen that man before and more importantly, the amulet around his neck matching ones carried by Larna's attackers. The man notices that Serana is staring at him and slowly makes his way out the crowd before walking quietly towards the main entrance, attempting to attract as little attention as possible.

Serana continues to watch as the man walks away while asking “so anyone in that group would know the cure for the poison?” 

The moth priest turns to look at Serana while responding “Most likely, but I have been told Larna killed all the attackers. Didn't she?” 

“She did kill the attackers but I might know where we can find another person who can help us” 

Before anyone can respond to Serana, She shouts “Stop right there”

The whole crowd can only watch as Serana forces her way through and throws her dagger at the man, smiling slightly as the dagger strikes true, knocking him the the floor with a crash as his body strikes the metal grate in the room.

The man has no time to do anything before Serana is on top of him, lifting him by her bare hands off the floor and staring into his eyes. The man some how manages to remain calm as he is lifted off the floor and with a dagger sticking out of his leg. 

“So you worked out who was sending out information on the Dawnguard and more importantly for you” The man says with a smile, unnerving Serana slightly before he leans closer to her ear and whispering “Larna” 

Serana just stares back in anger before slamming him into a nearby wall “You betrayed her, why would you do such a thing?”

“Business young lady, it was just business” The man remarks back, seeming to make Serana increasingly angry.

“Business” Serana shouts back raising him a bit further up the wall.

“My employer wants Larna and I am contracted shall we say to deliver her” The man continues, managing to remain calm even while being lifted higher off the ground.

“So you know what I need to save Larna?” Serana asks back, still starring into his eyes in the hopes to unnerve him.

“Of course I know and I will let you into a little secret” He leans closer again before whispering “and I am not going to tell you” The man laughs loudly as he is repeat slammed into the wall by Serana in her fit of rage.

“Serana calm down, we need him alive” A voice shouts from behind. Serana turns around to discover that her confrontation has drawn quite a lot of attention and finds Isran shaking his hands. “Stop, we will need him alive” Isran shouts again. Serana turns back to the man who is still smiling and lifts him back into the air 

Serana is about to start slamming the man against the wall again when a voice rings out from behind the crowd. “ Serana come quick”. Serana turns around to find that the moth priest is standing in the main hall door way and is waving her over. “ Come quick” The moth priest repeats, “Larna is awake and is asking for you” 

“Wait, I thought she was unconscious and not going to wake up while the poison is killing her” Isran responds first, equally stunned

“Does this mean she is fine now?” Serana quickly adds, a slight smile returning to her face.

“No, but she is talking. This has never happened before.” the moth priest replies, scratching his head ” Larna is a very strong woman but you better hurry, I do not know how long she can keep this up” 

Serana throws the man in her hands over towards a group of soldiers standing near the stairs before ordering “Take him upstairs and if he escapes, lets just say, you will not like the consequences. The soldiers just stand there stunned by what just happened but promptly grab the man by the arms and haul him up the stairs, trying to not look at Serana. 

As soon as the soldiers disappear up the stairs, Serana runs back into the room where Larna is before sitting down beside her.

“Serana, is that you?” Larna asks breathlessly, attempting to sit up but unable to.

“Yes it is” Serana says as she sits on a bench beside Larna, wiping away a tear from her cheek 

“I have something to say to you but I do not know how long I can stay awake” Larna continues “come closer” 

Serana leans closer as Larna continues, barely able to whisper “ I have been thinking for a while and I think I am falling in with....with.... “. Larna gives a slight cough before slipping back unconscious.

Serana watches as Larna's eyes close again and just rests her head on Larna's chest, listening to Larna's faint heartbeat. After a few seconds, Serana stands up and walks towards the stairs leading to the second floor and more importantly, the man who knows how to save Larna. 

What did she say?” a member of the crowd asks as Serana walks past

“She didn't finish” Serana responds as she wipes away a freshly drawn tear from her cheek

Serana walks straight past the large crowd before going up the stairs and into the torture room, containing Isran and the traitor.

“So what did she say?” the traitor taunts “remember what she said as they will be the last words that ever pass from those lips again” 

Serana says nothing in response as she shakes with rage before grabbing the man by the neck again and lifts him off the floor. Isran is about to object but Serana is in the process of dragging the man out of the room while trying to ignore his taunts.

“You should be with her as she breaths her last, standing by her side while knowing there is nothing you can do to save her” the man continues to taunt with a smile as he is dragged out the room.

Serana just snaps at the last comment and proceeds to throw the man over the balcony and onto the floor below, watching as everyone shivers at the noise of bones breaking as they strike the unforgiving stone floor below.

Serana slowly walks down the stairs, smiling at the sight as the man attempts to crawl away from her but hindered by the large amount of his bones in his body that are now broken by the fall. Serana walks over to the man and lifts him off the floor again, staring into his eyes and relishing the sight of fear being to show in his eyes.

“Is that all you got, there is nothing you mere Nord can do to me to make me tell you how to save her” The man taunts still trying to maintaining complete composure, or as much as you can with most of your bones broken while being held off the floor.

“But you see you unobservant fool, I am no mere Nord” Serana responds back, giving the best smile she can so that her fangs are visible. “look into my eyes and work out why you should be afraid of me”

After a few seconds of staring into Serana's eyes, the man suddenly tries to shake free while stuttering “V..V..Vampire” 

Serana is about to continue interrogating the man when the recognisable sound of weapons being drawn and arrows being notched. 

“Maybe it wasn't a good I dear to reveal what I am” Serana whispers to self as she tries to work out what to do. Thankfully, her salvation comes from an unlikely source.

“Lower your weapons” Isran shouts from behind. 

Serana looks behind her to see to her relief that most of the soldiers inside the fort have lowered their weapons but noticing that a few still remain with their weapons firmly in their hands

“Lower your weapons” Isran barks again with increasing firmness. Serana watches as the last few soldiers grudgingly lowering their weapons before turning back to face the man in her arms, watching with glee as she stares into his eyes and finds nothing but fear.

“Now you know what I am” Serana whispers in his ear as she brings him close enough that his shoulder is next to her mouth. “Are you going to tell me how to save her?” 

The man shakes his head and Serana leans in so her lips are barely grazing his neck. “ Are you sure?” Serana asks again “I have been told being feed on by a vampire is one of the worst pains anyone can go through”.  
Serana is about to bite into the neck before her but is interrupted by the man shouting “STOP, STOP . I will tell you” 

“That is what I like to hear now tell me how to save her” Serana responds with a smile, thankful she didn't have to go through with her threat. 

The man whispers into Serana's ear on everything she needs to make the cure to save Larna. 

After the man has finished explaining what to do, Serana warns the man “If I find out you have crossed me and Larna dies, you will experience a pain that you can not imagine” before dropping him to the floor and running towards the alchemy station set up in one of the back rooms, strangely located nearby to the forge and the troll pen.

After a few minutes of making a large amount of noise, Serana promptly returns to Larna's side and sits on the bench nearby. Serana pops the bottle open and is about to pour the mixture into Larna's mouth when one of the crowd members shouts from the back “Are we really going to trust this thing with Larna's life? For all we know, she could be working with them” 

Serana notices that is was one of the soldiers who hesitated in lowering his weapon at Isran's order who is now shouting at her and is about to respond when Isran gets there first.

“Larna seems to trust her and that is good enough for me. If any of you have any better ideas, feel free to shout them out” Isran barks back.

Serana listens as the crowd grumble on about her being a vampire but after hearing no objections or better ideas and with a nod from Isran, She begins to pour the potion into Larna's mouth. 

“It will take a few minutes for the cure to get to work but we will soon know” The moth priest says as he places his hand on Serana's shoulder.

After a few minutes of watching, the atmosphere of the room relaxes as Larna breaths in deeply and the colour slowly beginning to return to her face.

“Oh thank goodness” Serana sighs as she rests her head back on Larna's chest, listening as the heart beat in Larna's body slowly strengthen with each passing moment.

Serana looks up and asks “ Can she be moved now she is cured?”. Watching as the healer begins to wave her glowing hands and sighing a relief when the wounds slowly begin to heal.  
“She can be moved but she is still in a very bad shape” The moth priest replies 

Serana proceeds to pick up Larna's body and starts to walk towards the stairs when she finds her path blocked by a large number of Dawnguard soldiers. “And where do you think you are going and with Larna for that matter?” one of the Dawnguard members asks while placing his hand on his sword hilt. “Just because you helped save her, doesn't mean that you can just walk around” Shouts another 

“I am planning on taking Larna back to her room where she can rest and I can look after her” Serana says back, looking down at Larna's face while brushing away a stray blonde hair.

“Just let her past” Isran shouts 

“We are not letting her out of our sight” a third Dawnguard soldier shouts out 

“Then how about me escort her to Larna's room to make sure she is safe” The moth priest suggests to calm a quickly intensifying hostile situation.

“No” One of the soldiers barks back ”we do not know who you even are so as far as I am concerned, you might be another traitor”

“Then let me escort her up there then” the healer quickly adds “ I will make sure she is safe and I can make sure she is fine.

“Fine, but we are watching you” The first soldier says as he glares at Serana before walking off with the others in tow. 

Serana watches as the men standing in her way slowly dissipate, noticing that they not only glare at her as they leave, but Isran aswell. Serana takes a quick look at Larna before starting to walk to Larna's room.

As Serana walks up the stairs with the moth priest and healer in tow, Serana says “Thank you for saving her life” 

“It was no problem” the moth priest replies “I am glad I can help the one who broke the hold the vampires had over my mind”

“I didn't catch your name” Serana says to the moth priest as she turns the corner into the corridor leading to Larna's room.

“My name is Dexion, part of the moth priest order in Cyrodill”

Serana walks into Larna's room and watches as the healer readies the bed before walking over and placing Larna in it. She makes sure that Larna is comfortable before stepping back to allow the healer to get closer so she can make sure Larna is fine,

Serana watches as the healer kneels down beside Larna and begins to wave her glowing hands over Larna's wounds, sighing a relief as they continue to heal up. The healer continues to wave her hands for a few more seconds before replacing the bandages and standing up.

“I do not dare healer her anymore at this point” the healer says as she stands. When she notices that Serana is looking at her funny, she continues “using magic puts the body under strain and that is not something I want to do while she is in this condition” 

Serana just nods, remembering that Larna mentioned something similar when she was talking about restoration magic, before saying “ thank you....” purposely leaving a long pause in the hope that the healer would finish.

“Lia, my name is Lia” the healer responds before continuing “ I am glad to help some one out who has done so much for the Dawnguard, she has saved so many lives” 

“Thank you anyway” Serana repeats, watching as Lia slowly walks towards the door.

“I should be the one thanking you” Lia responds, noticing a slight smile on Serana's face “ If you didn't do what you did to get the cure, not that I condone that sort of action, we wouldn't be talking now as Larna slowly recovers from her wounds.” 

Serana walks over to the other side of the room as Lia disappears out of sight, picking up a small chair from that side of the room before returning to Larna's bed side. Once there, she places the chair down before sitting down and beginning to softly stroke Larna's cheek, feeling the warmth return to her face.

“You should get some rest too Serana” Dexion says as he stands behind her, Serana forgetting that he was even still in the room. Dexion looks like he is about to say something when he notices a large scroll box with the words “Elder scrolls” painted on it's lid resting on a nearby table.

“You have a Elder scroll?” Dexion asks as he takes a closer look at the box.

“Two” Serana responds, resting her head on Larna's chest and relaxing to the sound of Larna's heart beat.

“You have two” Dexion exclaims as he opens the box “Would it be okay if I took them away so I can prepare to read them?”

Serana lifts her head enough to nod at Dexion before resting her head back down on Larna's chest.

“I will tell you what I discover when I read them” Dexion says as he leaves the room. Turning around before shutting the door behind him, Dexion finds that Serana has fallen asleep before muttering to himself as he leaves “Not like any vampire I have ever met” 

 

 

Serana spends the next few weeks by Larna's bedside, making sure that she remains comfortable and safe from anyone who wishes her anymore harm while she is at her most vulnerable. She watches with glee as the wounds across Larna's body slowly disappear with every visit from the healer, leaving only silvery scars as a reminder of what happened.

Serana is woken up one morning like she normally is, hearing a knock on the door and finding Lia standing there when she opens it.

“How is she?” Lia asks as she walks over to Larna and places her hand on her head.

“She is fine, I just wish she wakes up, she has been sleeping for days” Serana responds as she walks over to the large, glass cabinet in the room containing various coloured vials before pulling out a blood potion and drinking it.  
“That was my last one” Serana sighs quietly as she throws the vial in a nearby container.

Serana watches as Lia waves her hand over Larna's body for a few minutes, her hand glowing with the pale radiance associated with restoration magic. Lia stands up and walks towards the door while saying “she should wake up any day now” before walking out while shutting the door behind her.

Serana returns to her seat and places her hand on Larna's cheek, gently stroking it while saying “I wish you would just wake up now”. Serana closes her eyes and mutters a silent prayer to any thing that would listen.

“You know I can feel that” 

Serana opens her eyes and looks down to find Larna's bright green eyes staring back at her. ”your.... your awake” Serana stutters as she jumps back in her seat. 

“How long was I asleep?” Larna ask as she slowly sits up, swinging her legs around so they touch the floor. 

“About two weeks” Serana replies, helping Larna stand up.

Before Larna can say or do anything else, she finds herself being pulled into a hug by Serana, being lifted off the floor by the taller woman.

After a few minutes of silent hugging, Serana breaks the silence first “You had everyone so worried”

“Did I?” Larna responds as she breaks the hug, ending up staring into Serana's dark orange eyes.

However, before Larna could even finish her sentence, Lia walks into the room before shouting “Larna, your awake”

Lia then promptly grabs Larna by the hand and pull her out the room, leaving Serana to stand there on her own.

“Hey everybody, look who is up” Lia shouts over the balcony 

Larna looks below as the room fills with people before Isran walks in and shouts “ I believe this a good reason for a party” before walking out with lots of people in tow.

“come on” Lia says as she drags Larna down the stairs and into the main dining room. As soon a Larna enters the room, she finds her self picked up by a group of people and moved to one of the larger tables in the room before being placed down on top of it.

When Larna stands up fully and looks at the crowd before her, she just smiles at the crowd while noticing Serana leaning against a column at the back of the room.

 

“I want to thank you all for helping me while I was at a difficult spot.” Larna then waves the healer over, helping her onto the table and giving her a hug. “ I want to especially want to thank you for saving my life with your magic and skills.” she then helps Lia off the table before looking back in the crowd and waving at Dexion “and I want to thank Dexion for providing the information that helped saved my life”. Larna then turns to look where Serana was standing and watches Serana makes her way towards the exit.

Larna then turns back to the crowd and lifts up her mug and shouts “ raise your drinks to another year of Vampire hunting” watching as the crowd roars with cheer and chants about the death of all vampires.   
Larna jumps off the table and starts to make her way through the crowd, shacking the hand of everyone she passes as they wish her well from her injuries. 

When she finally escapes the crowd, Larna runs out the door and after Serana, sneaking past the guards that stand watch.

Larna follows Serana out towards the lake that inhabits the canyon that Fort Dawnguard sits in, making sure to stick to the shadows where she can so she remains hidden. Larna continues to follow Serana until she arrives at the lake's edge before sitting down and looking back in Larna's direction.

“You may be able to hide from my eyes but I can still smell you” Serana remarks as she returns her gaze to the moon being reflected off the lake.

Larna sheepishly emergences from her hiding place as Serana continues “I came out here every once and a while you were unconscious and just looked out over the water, admiring how the moonlight reflected off the water.” 

Larna sits down next to Serana and places her hand on her lap, watching as Serana then promptly rests her head on her shoulder.

After a few minutes of sitting there in silence, Larna moves slightly so she is sitting opposite Serana, staring into her deep orange eyes.  
“ I want to thank you for saving my life” Larna says as she continues to stare into Serana's eyes. When Serana is about to respond, Larna continues “You have done more for me than anyone else has since I lost my mother all those years ago and I want to thank you. You have.....” 

Serana interrupts Larna by reaching over and pulling her into a hug, feeling Larna return the hug. After a few seconds of hugging, Serana breaks the hug and wipes away a few tears from Larna's cheek.

“And I think I know the best way of repaying you for your kindness” Larna says as she smiles at Serana. Larna notices that Serana is about to object but interrupts her by continuing. “ I will give you anything you want”

Serana just sits there stunned for a few seconds before her hunger makes it self known. “She did say anything” Serana thinks to herself as she looks at Larna. Serana reaches over and lifts up Larna's arm, unconsciously licking her lips at the thought of the fresh blood she is about to have. However, before Serana can lift the arm up high enough so she can bite into it, Larna suddenly pulls it away. Serana sighs and looks down at the ground, wondering if she has just overstepped a line with Larna . To her surprise however, she feels a finger cup her chin before move her head so she is looking directly at Larna. 

Larna just smiles at Serana as she looks back at her with a confused expression on her face. Instead of saying anything, Larna just lowers her hood, allowing her golden blonde hair to flow down her shoulders before sweeping it to one side, tilting her head slightly so her neck is visible.

“I think you might prefer something a little more comfortable” Larna says before continuing with a wink “ And personal” 

Serana just sits there in silence for a second stunned by what Larna is offering, knowing full well that feeding from the neck provides the best tasting blood.

Serana climbs into Larna's lap to get better access to her neck and with a quick nod from Larna to make sure she is still comfortable with allowing her to feed off of her, she slowly places her lips on her neck before biting into it. As her teeth pierce Larna's skin, she notices that Larna tenses up for a few seconds in pain before relaxing. 

As the first few drops of blood flow from Larna's neck and into her mouth, coming into contact with her tongue, cause her to shudder slightly at the divine taste. Serana knew how good Larna's blood tasted when she drank from the blood potions that Larna gave her but that couldn't prepare her for the taste she was experiencing now.

As Serana continues to drink, she suddenly feels Larna's heat skip a beat and notices that she is drinking Larna's blood faster than she should do. Quickly slowing down, Serana begins to sip Larna's blood and enjoy it, knowing she must enjoy feeding of Larna as long as she can.

When she feels Larna's heat skip another beat, Serana stops drinking. 

As Serana gets up, she notices that as she has fed on Larna and got distracted, she has managed to push Larna down on her back while ending up on top of her and holding her arms down. Serana sits up but still remains on top of Larna, watching as Larna comes back from her high.

“Wow, that was amazing. I never thought being fed on could feel so good” Larna says as she continues to lay on the grass, rubbing her hand over her neck at where Serana just fed to heal the small wounds.

“It normally doesn't feel very good to the person who is being fed on as they are normally scared about it but when someone is willing to be fed upon, I have been told it feels amazing. Something you just conformed” Serana respond, giving Larna a sultry wink as she wipes the excess blood from her chin 

“Well, if it feels that good. I might let you feed off me more often” Larna teases as she slowly starts to sit up, resting her weight on her elbows.

As Larna attempts to sit up, she suddenly finds herself pushed back down with Serana sitting on her waist. When Larna looks at Serana with a confused expression on her face, Serana just smiles and places a finger on Larna's lips when she attempts to speak.

“What? You think I am done with you” Serana says with the best innocent tone she could muster before she slowly undoes Larna's robes. “You said that I could have anything I wanted and what I want more than anything is you”. Serana notices that Larna begins to wiggle beneath her but makes no attempts to stop her. Taking this as permission to continue, Serana continues to remove Larna's robes until she is naked from the waist up before running her hands across her bare skin, enjoying the control she has over Larna as she continues to move beneath her.

“I have dreamed about this moment for a while now and what I do with you if given the chance” Serana suddenly grabs one of Larna's breasts, watching as Larna begins to moan before continuing with a big smile across her face “ And to you” 

Serana then leans down so her face is inches away from Larna's while her hand slowly rubs up her leg before saying “ and besides, what I want to do to you is going to take all night long”


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is going to be a bit short so I can start the next chapter at a point that I am happy with. The next few chapters I plan to be longer and there will be some sadness so be prepared.

Larna woken up the next morning by the glow of the rising sun coming over the mountain tops, feeling its warming glow on her bare skin. She looks to her right and finds Serana fast asleep beside her. Larna just looks at Serana for a few seconds before gently shaking her awake and sitting up, pulling the furs she was sleeping under further up her body.

“Last night was amazing” Larna comments as she sits up.

“You don't say” Serana says back as she too sits up while pulling up the furs she was sleeping under, continuing with a wink “and what you did with your hands felt amazing” 

“You mean this” Larna teases as she shows Serana her hand surrounded by a cold chill before she rubs her hand up Serana's leg, watching her shiver slightly.

“Yes that” Serana responds before brushing off Larna's hand. “How do you do that anyway?”

“It is just a bit of cold magic, not enough to harm anyone but just cold enough for you to feel it.” When Larna notices the confused expression on Serana's face, she continues” Just because spell is used to harm people, doesn't mean that it is the only thing it can do. I often use the same spell to keep my drinks cold while I am drinking it, very helpful especially on a hot day”

Serana just sits there for a few seconds before noticing the furs she is sleeping on and under before asking “where did these furs come from? You didn't skin a load of animals while I was a sleep.” Serana continues to tease as she looks at Larna. 

“No, they came from my pack” Larna says as she points over to her pack laying on top of her robes. 

“How did you fit all this in... never mind. More magic I presume” Serana responds, remembering that Larna is a magic user who is very knowledgeable in the ways of magical artefacts.

Serana leans back on her elbows and watches Larna get up before picking up her robes, her eyes lingering on Larna's body as she slowly begins to get dressed. As Larna begins to pull her under shirt on, Serana notices that she is struggling to put her arms through the sleeves and comes to the conclusion that Larna is having problems getting dressed thanks to her still healing injuries. 

Serana stands up and walks over to Larna before sliding up behind her and whispering in her ear “Allow me”. Serana reaches around Larna and begins to button up the shirt, resting her head gently on Larna's shoulders and enjoying the warmth that her body radiates. Serana grudgingly steps away from Larna before helping her into her robes and tightening the straps on it.

“There we go” Serana says as she steps back and admires Larna in her robes, wishing she could remove them again and take her like she did last night 

“Thanks” Larna says as she secures her sword to her waist belt.

“No problem” Serana responds before getting herself dressed, watching as Larna picks up the furs laying on the floor before putting them in her bag.

“What are you going to tell Isran and the other Dawnguard members?” Serana asks as she finishes getting dressed.

“Nothing” Larna responds to the surprise of Serana.

“Why?” Serana asks, almost feeling hurt by the comment

“Do you really think that they would approve of this? They would treat this as an attempt against the Dawnguard and take measures, most likely ending with you dead on the floor.” Larna responds before moving to face Serana, placing her hands on her shoulders and looking directly into her eyes.  
“What happened was amazing and I will never forget it but they cannot know for now.” 

When Larna notices the sadness remaining in Serana's eyes, she continues with a sultry wink “tell you what, we keep this a secret and I will owe you again” 

“Are you sure? I might plan something similar to last night” Serana teases back before reaching forward and popping a few buttons on Larna's robes, exposing her cleavage.

“What are you doing?” Larna asks as she attempts to re-button her robes.

Serana reaches forward and grabs Larna's hand while saying “leave it like that, consider it a start to paying what you owe me. I like how it looks on you”

“you tease” Larna responds but makes no further attempts to fasten her robes back up.

Serana follows Larna as she walks back to the fort, having small flashbacks to last night when she suddenly finds herself pushed to the side and pinned up against a near by tree.

“Hey, what gives?” Serana shouts before finding Larna push her lips up to hers. After a few seconds of kissing, Larna breaks the kiss and whispers “Are you going to shout anymore?” 

“No” Serana responds, almost breathless from the kiss.” not that I am complaining but why did you kiss me?”

“I needed to shut you up and it was the best way to do it” Larna responds teasingly before continuing with a more serious tone “We need to sneak you inside, how long can you maintain your invisibility for?”

“I can maintain it for a few minutes, why?”

“I need you to become invisible until we are inside the fort, what do you think Isran and the others are going to think when we both walk in together after disappearing for the night”

“good point” Serana agrees before turning herself invisible “lead on”

Larna quickly walks towards the fort, saying hello to the soldiers guarding the entrance on her way in before walking to the front door. 

“when we get inside” Larna whispers in Serana's general direction “head straight for my room and stay there until I come in okay?”

“Okay” Serana responds before walking behind Larna as she opens up the large doors.

“Oh there you are Larna” Isran shouts as Larna walks through the door “We have a slight problem”

“What is it?” Larna asks, slightly concerned on what the problem could be. 

“Some of the men are not happy about Serana remaining inside the fort as she is a vampire, they are discussing what to do about it and some of the proposed solutions are quite extreme”

“let me handle this” Larna says before walking straight past Isran and into the main dining room

“What is going on here?” Larna barks as she enters the dining room, silencing everyone inside it “What is this I hear about your opinion about Serana and what you are going to do to her”

“We are discussing what we should do about that thing you brought into our home” One of the men says as he approaches Larna, earning a glare from her as he does so 

“First off, she has a name” Larna barks back “ and secondly, she is my responsibility. She helps me hunt vampires and has been for some time.”

“The Dawnguard exists to hunt down and kill all vampires and their allies across Tamriel, why should we make an exception for the one you brought in here?” another shouts out from within the crowd

“Answer me this then, what is the best way to hunt something?” Larna shouts back, watching the man before her back off a bit. After hearing no comments, Larna continues “The best way to hunt something or someone is to think like one, act like on, in a sense become one. Now since becoming one is not an option, I have chosen to use the second best way and that is to have a something you hunt to actually come along on the hunt to help you.. And besides, Serana is no ordinary vampire” Larna adds, deciding it would be best to not inform them about how unlike a ordinary vampire Serana actually is and who her dad is. 

“That is still no excuse” The man before her shouts back, finding the courage to answer back to Larna.

“How many vampires have any of you killed? A few, a dozen. Between me and Serana, we have killed nearly one hundred of them. I think vampires are even going out in groups to hunt me down and if it wasn't for Serana, they might have succeeded.” Larna barks back, watching the man finally back down. “Now if you excuse me, I have to prepare myself and my equipment for a hunting trip” Larna finishes before walking out the room, nodding towards Isran on her way out.

Larna walks into her room, finding Serana sitting on the bed before walking towards the table and taking a few items from the table, placing them in her bag.

“Where are we off to then?” Serana asks as she stands up

“We are going to hunt for more vampires while going to a party in Winterhold, the Jarl has requested a Dawnguard member to attend the event after a vampire was spotted in the area and we are to make sure the party remains vampire free” Larna then turns to Serana and says with a wink “present company excluded of course”.

Larna then promptly picks up an amulet before placing it around her neck, watching Serana stare at it for a few seconds.

“Why are you wearing that?” Serana asks, still staring at Larna's chest

“It is an amulet of poison immunity and after the attempt on my life using poison, I think it might be a good time to start wearing it” Larna responds, noticing that Serana is still staring at her chest. ”Hey, my eyes are up here. You are just as bad as some of the men in this fort” Larna teases before continuing with a sultry wink “and the women”

Serana snaps out of her trance before apologising “Sorry, I don't normally stare. Its just, have you seen how beautiful you are?”

“Awe thanks” Larna responds with a smile, blushing slightly at the comment “your not too bad your self” Larna teases back before walking out the door.

Larna walks down the stairs to the main entrance with Serana in tow, watching the few men in the area glare at Serana as she walks past. 

“Just remember” One of then men shouts out to Serana and Larna “We are watching you carefully.”

Larna just opens the door and walks into the sun before turning to Serana “ready for this?” 

“Yes” Serana responds, pulling her hood up.

“Well then, lets go. We have a party to go to” Larna responds before walking into the sunshine.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the late posting of this chapter, it was the hardest one for me to write out of all of them. Now I have decided on a direction, it should now be easier to write the next chapters much quicker as I have an idea in mind on where to go now and how to continue the story.

Serana and Larna spend most of the morning walking towards the party while talking about the usual, a mixture of vampire hunting and being hungry. 

“Who is this party for?” Serana asks as she follows Larna down the road.

“Not sure, but the rumour of vampires being spotted in the area has many people worried and we are going as a precaution, there is meant to be quite a few powerful people attending the party” Larna replies as she stops to pull out her map when they reach a fork in the road, making sure they are about to walk down the correct road.

Serana walks up behind Larna and wraps her arms around her, resting her head on Larna's shoulders and asking ”Not that I don't mind parties, or the person I am going with” Serana quickly adds with a gentle squeeze “but why are we going? Surely the local guards can handle a few vampires”

Larna pats Serana's arms, indicating for her to let go before rolling up her map and putting back where it came from. “The guards of Winterhold are very well trained which means they can deal with the occasional bandit group or pack of wild animals but not a whole group of vampires, rumoured to have a few very powerful vampires in their ranks. I am not sure how reliable this rumour is, it could just be some local children causing trouble but we will soon see.”

Serana then spins Larna round to face her and while she is momentary stunned, she plants a quick kiss straight on Larna's lips, smiling when she feels Larna kiss back. After a few seconds of kissing, Larna breaks it, breathlessly asking “What was that for?”

“What?” Serana responds while trying to give the most innocent look she could before continuing “I am just making sure you know what you mean to me”

“I know” Larna responds with a slight blush to her cheeks before continuing “I know, You mean the world to me as well Serana”. 

Larna and Serana stare into each others eyes for a few seconds before Larna breaks the staring contest while saying “Lets get going, we need to get going if we are going to make the party”

 

Larna and Serana continue to walk down the road towards Winterhold when the come across a young woman walking along the road ahead of them. As they get closer, the woman turns around and notices Larna and Serana walking towards her before asking “Do you know the route to Winterhold? I have been invited to attend a party there.”

“We do and we are also heading that way if you would like to come along” Larna responds, noticing the woman is giving off a strange magical aura.

“I would appreciate that very much, the roads around here are quite dangerous” the woman replies before walking a head, Larna taking a quick look at the woman and noticing no physical weapons about her person. 

Taking this opportunity with the woman being ahead of them and Larna being distracted, Serana walks up behind Larna and pulls her into a cuddle, resting her head on Larna's shoulders as Larna continues to stare at the new travelling companion as she walked down the road.  
“And here I thought I could have you again like last night but with company, I don't think you would be quiet enough for me to do that now would you?” Serana teases but notices that Larna is taking more notice than she normally does in the new travelling companion. “What's wrong? Are you alright” Serana asks.

Larna shakes her head “Yes I am fine, shame about the first part” Larna teases back before continuing with a more serious tone “just keep an eye on her” discretely indicating to their travelling companion “she has magical talent but I am not sure how good she is with magic or which school she uses. Something is not right with her”

The new travelling companion turns around and shouts towards them “are you coming?” with a smile and a wave . 

“Right behind you” Larna shouts back before stating to follow, her hand resting slightly on the handle of her blade.

For the next few hours, Larna and Serana lead their new travelling companion towards their mutual destination, keeping an eye out for any dangers that might try and interfere as they walked. Over the course of the many conversations they had, the woman introduced herself as Holly Goldstar from Shor's Stone, a settlement not far from where they are now. 

When Holly mentioned she was a tailor by trade, Serana got a little more interested in the finding out more about her, wondering if her magical talents Larna picked up on were her ability to weave magic into mundane arms and armour just like Larna can. Serana also noticed that Larna was awfully cautious around Holly, constantly resting her hand on her blade and looking at Holly with the same look she did with magical artefacts when ever Holly turned her back. 

As the sun slowly disappeared behind the mountains in the horizon, Larna notices a building on the side of the road and sighs a relief when she discovers that it is an inn. “We will stay here for the night and walk the rest tomorrow.” 

“Good idea” Serana responds as she walks up to Larna and whispers “make sure the rooms have solid walls otherwise everyone else is going to hear you. I have a few ideas in mind that might make you scream a little.” 

Larna blushes at the comment and walks in with Serana and Holly in tow. 

After an interesting conversation and knowing nod a few minutes later from the Inn keeper after Larna explained that the last two rooms left will be suitable for the party of three, Larna watches as Holly walked into her room for the night before walking into her room opposite. 

Larna smiles as she finds Serana is already in the room and in the process of sorting out the bed. 

“This is a very nice room for the night” Serana comments as she stands up and walks towards Larna 

“It is” Larna replies shuts the door behind her.

As soon as Larna turns around after she shuts the door, she finds herself pushed up against the door with Serana on top of her, pushing her lips on top of Larna's. Serana smiles when she feels Larna kiss back and after a few seconds, feels Larna push her away.

“I am going to check on Holly and then go downstairs for a few drinks. When I get back, I might let you try a few of those ideas you have in that pretty head of yours” Larna says as she pushes Serana far enough away for her to open the door.

“That sounds delightful” Serana responds before walking over to the bed and sitting down, watching Larna through the open door as she says a quick hello to Holly in the other room. Serana walks over to the door and shuts it before walking back over towards the bed and sitting down, thinking about what she is planning on doing with Larna. And to her.

Serana doesn't have to wait very long and finds Larna walk back into the room much faster than she thought with drinks in her hand. She watches as Larna walks over to her, pushing her onto the bed. 

“What is going on? Where are the drinks you were getting?” Serana asks as she watches Larna straddle her waist.

“I thought about it” Larna responds with a smile before leaning over so her face hovers only inches away from Serana's “But after the comment you made outside, I want to know what you have in mind.”

Serana grabs Larna by the shoulders and rotates, putting Larna between her and the bed. Serana then smiled at Larna as she straddles her waist before leaning over and beginning to kiss Larna.

Serana continues to kiss Larna as she lays on top of her of her, enjoying the moment but something about Larna seems off to her. She is not kissing her back the same way she did the previous night. 

All of a sudden there is a loud noise behind her like glass has been dropped and Serana turns around to find Larna standing there stunned look on her face with shattered glass all around her. Serana then looks down to the person she was kissing and finds Holly below her with a stupid grin on her face.

“But... but... I thought you ...and ….I …..” Serana hears Larna stutter behind her, turning around to find Larna in tears 

“We are” Serana says back while trying to get up, noticing Holly still has a grin across her face.

Larna doesn't wait for Serana to say anymore and runs away, crying the whole time. 

As Larna ran along the winding roads, she notices that she is being followed by someone sticking to the shadows cast by the nearby trees and when she reaches a clearing, she turns around and shouts “Come out, I know you are there” wiping away a tear. Larna watches as a figure dressed in black leather armour steps out from the shadows, drawing daggers as it approaches.

“Larna” The figure shouts back in a feminine voice, something Larna was not expecting. “I am here to fulfil a contract, something my lesser brothers and sisters are unable to do.”

“I have dealt with enough assassins, I am not afraid of you” Larna shouts back defiantly, noticing the distinctive symbol embroidered into the armour of the figure, the mark of a Dark Brotherhood assassin.

“You should be, I am no ordinary assassin”

“Doesn't matter, I am still not..... Oh what's the point” Larna sighs as she drops to her knees, still heart broken from Serana's betrayal. Larna watches as the figure approaches and is surprised when weapons are lowered.

The figure sighs” I was told you are one of the most challenging contracts we have ever taken, whether you were alone or with company, defended yourself with magic or steel, you managed to stave off attacks from the best of us. I have been told stories about you from assassins that failed and I had to see for myself how good you were. If you were not under contract, I would have invited you to join us”

“Just get it over with” Larna says as she hangs her head low, tears flow down her cheek.

The figure surprises Larna again by instead of taking her life, she returns the daggers to her waist belt before crouching down before her, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Tell you what, I will forget the contract on your life if you come with me and become an assassin for the brotherhood. I can train you to be faster, stronger and more importantly” the figure then lifts Larna's head with her finger so she looks directly into her eyes “teach you so no one can ever hurt you again”

Larna smiles slightly before the figure stands up, offering a hand a hand up. Larna takes the hand before her, feeling the strength in the figures arm as she is helped up.

“My name is Astrid by the way” The figure says before turning around and walking into the forest. 

Larna followed close behind Astrid as she lead the way to her new life. While on the way there, Larna started thinking on how her life was going to change now she was going to become an assassin. Sure, she had killed people before but she felt the deserved it, whether it was bandits terrorising the roads or vampires hunting the innocent, she felt she was justified in killing them. Could she justify it to herself to kill someone in the name of gold. 

This thought continued to rattle inside her mind and distracted her so much that she was surprised to find out that they had arrived at their destination, in the forests of Falkreath miles from where they started.

“Here we are” Astrid announces as she walks over to the large face in the landscape, moving hanging ivy out the way to reveal a large iron door with a skull carved in it. As Larna gets closer, she notices a strange aura emanating from the door and comes to the conclusion that it not going to be open by something as simple as an iron key. Her suspicions are confirmed when Astrid walks to the door and places her hand on the hand icon embedded in the carved skull, listening to the door ask “What is the music of life?” to which Astrid responds “Silence my brother”.

Larna watches as the door opens up and Astrid walks in, quickly following as the door slowly starts to shut. Larna follows Astrid down a winding path lit by sconce's mounted to the rock before being led into a small room on the right. 

“I will keep the introduction short” Astrid says as she walks over to the other side of the table in the center of the room, various scrolls and parchment scatter across its surface ”I just need to know what skills you have so we can begin training”

“I know how to do this” Larna says proudly before turning her self invisible, reappearing a few seconds later with two ethereal, purple daggers in her hands.

“My my” Astrid responds “aren't you the sneaky mage. What is that in your hand?”

“I know a spell to summon these daggers ” Larna answers, holding up a dagger. “It is not as sharp as a real dagger and I prefer to use real ones but it comes in handy when I go to places that prohibits weapons ”

“Well then, I might have a couple of parties for you to attend where weapons are shall we say, disliked” Astrid jokes as she picks up a few scrolls from the table before walking back out the room.

Larna follows Astrid as she leads her further through the cave, introducing her to other brotherhood members as she goes. Larna is eventually led into a large, candle lit cavern that appears to contain a small Nordic ruin. Larna has a quick look around, noticing the various passageways leading in an out of the cavern before her attention is drawn to a word wall towards the back of the room.

Astrid turns around and proudly declares “I guess the only thing left to say is, welcome to the brotherhood.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please do tell me what you thought about this chapter. I am not sure about it myself but it will help me continue in the way I have decided to go.


	15. Chapter 15

“Larna wait, it is not what it looks like” Serana shouts out as she watches Larna disappear from sight. Serana then clambers off of Holly and runs after Larna, hoping to catch up and explain what she just saw but when Serana runs outside the Inn, she watches Larna run off into the forests while turning herself invisible.

Serana sighs as she mutters to herself “I have lost her now, no one can track or find her when she doesn't want to be found.” 

After a few minutes crying over the loss of her friend, Serana remember the person responsible for the deception is laying upstairs in the inn and decides it is time to ask Holly some questions. Serana walks back to the inn, shocked by the silence of the room when she enters but thinks nothing of it and rushes upstairs to Holly was last seen. She stands at the closed door of the room and takes a deep breath, taking a moment to calm herself down before she tries to intimidate Holly.

With a swift kick to the door, Serana forces the door open and is shocked to find the room empty and Holly now where to be seen. Serana looks around the room for any clues to where Holly could have gone and finds nothing that points to anything in particular. After having searched for some clue with no success, Serana mutters to herself “While it is nearly impossible to track down Larna when she doesn't want to be found, it shouldn't as hard to track down that trickster.” 

Serana then notices Larna's cloak resting on the chair and walks over to pick it up, shedding a tear as she does so. When Serana picks up the cloak, she watches as a small, wrapped up box fall out of one of the concealed pockets. Serana reaches down and picks it up the box and sits down at the table to open it .   
Serana slowly removes the wrapping off the box and takes the lid off, the box containing a folded piece of paper with a wax stamp holding the fold down and a neatly placed roll of gold chain just visible. Serana pick up the note and finds hidden underneath the note, an amulet of Mara attached to the gold chain. Remembering her time before she was a vampire, Serana recalls a custom where an amulet of Mara was used in a proposal.

“That custom cannot be still going now, can it?” Serana asks herself as she broke the wax seal on the folded paper and read what was inside.

\-------Note---------

Dear Larna

You will find in this box an amulet of Mara with a gold chain attached to it. I hope it is what you were after when you requested one from us. I hope the proposal goes well and we look forward to hosting the wedding here when you get the chance.

Yours faithfully 

Marmal, Priest of Mara 

\----------------------

 

After finishing reading the note, Serana breaks down and starts crying. “So the custom is still around today and Larna was going to propose to me.” She then remembers the look of Larna's face when she first saw her and Holly kissing and sits down. “I meant the world to her as she did to me.” 

Serana's thoughts then return to the woman responsible for tricking her and Larna, Holly. She rushes downstairs and walks into the room as it turns completely silent but takes no notice and walks towards the innkeeper at the bar. 

“Where did the woman I was traveling with go?” Serana demands 

“Which one, the one who left crying or the woman who just walked out” The inn keeper jokingly responds.

After being reminding of what state Larna is in, Serana nearly sheds another tear but holds it in, determined to get an answer out of the man. “The one who walked out” Serana responds with a firm tone.

“She walked out and that is the last I saw her” The inn keeper adds before turning around and starting to cut up the block of cheese behind him.

Serana sighs and turns around to find the room still silent and everyone staring at her. Using this to her advantage, Serana asks the room “Where did the woman I was traveling with go?”

She watches as people start to talk between themselves but no one actually telling her anything she wanted and sighs. Finally, someone shouts out ”she went left, towards Windhelm.”

Serana nods and walks out, hearing someone ask the person “Are you sure that is the right direction?” before the person responds “Not sure which way she went” and started laughing.

“How hard can it be to track Holly down?” Serana ask herself as walks towards Windhelm. 

 

Serana spends the next two weeks searching for Holly throughout Skyrim, talking to innkeepers and shopkeepers, anyone who comes into contact with travelers on a regular basis. She sometimes gets lucky and finds someone who has seen Holly but mostly finds no one who has seen her. As she asks around, she starts to hear disturbing rumors that there has been a string of murders throughout Skyrim and it is believed that one person is responsible but no one is able to prove it or catch whoever did it. 

When Serana enters the Four Shields Tavern, her luck changes.

As the night draws near, Serana walks into the Four shields tavern as the rain starts to fall much heaver outside. She walks towards the inn keeper currently working behind his desk and asks “Have you seen a young woman going by the name of Holly Goldstar, I believe her life is in danger” Knowing from experience that some people are unwilling to disclose information without good reason. 

The innkeeper nods “ She was here a few minutes ago and has a room booked here for the night. She said she was going down to the river. Is she going to be alright?” The Innkeeper asks 

“She is going to be fine, there is just a threat on her life” Serana adds before turning away and walking out the door with a smile on her face “There is a threat on her life alright” Serana whispers to herself.

Serana walks out the door and pulls her hood up as she steps out into the rain before searching for a good way down to the river. After locating a path, Serana slowly follows it, sighing when the rain hampers her ability to smell her target out but still getting a slight scent of the person she is looking for. Serana finally reaches the river and spots Holly sitting under a nearby tree with a dead fish in her hands. 

Deciding that she would not give Holly the chance to escape without getting some answers, Serana turns herself invisible and using the sound of the rain to disguise her approach, she sneaks up behind the tree. When she is certain Holly is not carrying any weapons she or is not going to escape, She lowers her invisibility and grabs Holly round the neck and holds her up in the air. 

The look of panic on Holly's face brings a smile to Serana's face as Holly attempts to break her hold on her neck while shouting “Let me go, what do you want?” 

“What I want to know is why you did what you did?” Serana asks 

“I don't know who you are so put me down” Holly shouts back as she continues to strike Serana's arm 

“you don't know who I am” Serana chuckles before using her free hand to lower her hood, Smiling when Holly starts to panic some more.

“W..ww.. what do you want?” Holly stutters 

“I want to know why you did what you did back in that Inn with me, you broke someones heart” Serana responds, holding back a slight tear as she mentions Larna's broken heart. “And drop the act, you are not fooling anyone.”

Serana watches as the visage of the woman shifts from a scared woman to a composed woman in a split second, worried slightly as Holly begins to smile.

“So you want to know why I did what I did then. I did it because I was paid to break Larna's spirit and I found the best way, Break you and Larna up.” 

“What is it with you people and Larna? Leave her alone” Serana demands as she moves Holly's face closer to hers.

“you don't scare me” Holly shouts back out of spite 

“I am not here to scare you, I want to know where Larna is” Serana shouts back.

“I don't know where she is and even if I did, I am not going to tell you” Holly shouts back, still defiant even though she is being held off the floor 

“Fine then, then you are no use to me then” Serana responds with a smile before quickly leaning forwards and biting straight into Holly's neck and drinking the blood that came out.

Serana continued to drink as Holly shouted and hit, feeling the panic and horror flowing through her veins which brought a slight smile. Serana slowly felt Holly's strikes and screams begin to weaken until she stopped moving all together. When this happened, Serana removed her teeth from Holly's neck and continued to hold her now lifeless body in the air. 

“That is what you get for hurting my Larna” Serana says before casting her body into the river and watching it slowly disappear down the river as the water carries it away.

Serana then sits down and start to think about Larna “Why did I let this happen?” She asks herself as a tear start to flow down her cheek. “I have looked all over Skyrim for you and I guess the only place left to search is Fort Dawnguard. I know it might be the worse idea in the world but I have to find you”

Serana stands up and makes her way to Fort Dawnguard, still hoping that she might catch a rumor but she couldn't even find a whisper about Larna's whereabouts 

Serana arrives in the canyon that Fort Dawnguard resides in and readies her self, preparing herself to deal with Isran and the Dawnguard who revered or even loved Larna.

As Serana makes walks towards the fort, she is surprised that she was let in but unnerved by the looks she was getting from the guards. She was getting increasingly worried as she walked up the path and noticed people stopping what they were doing and staring at her, the air filled with an odd silence that unsettled her.

She walks up to the big wooden doors of the fort and takes a deep breath, calming her nerves before walking in.

As soon as she steps foot inside the main hall, Serana suddenly finds herself lifted up by her neck by Isran and slammed into the nearby wall.

“What did you do to Larna?” Isran demanded as he slammed her into the wall.

“Nothing, I did nothing” Serana responded 

“Then please explain why then Larna started to cry when we asked her where you were and mumbling she betrayed me as she ran out. We haven't seen her since.” Isran shouts back

Serana sighs when Isran mentioned that Larna is it here and she hasn't been seen in a while. “Look, I am trying to find her...” Serana responded before getting interrupted by Isran

“I Knew I shouldn't have allowed Larna to take you with her. I knew you would betray her” Serana then watched as Isran pulled out a dagger and put it to her throat. “I am now going to end you like I should have always done”

All Serana did was close her eyes and prayed that she will again meet Larna at some point. Serana waited for the end to come, feeling the cold steel pressed up against her neck but something happened that surprised her.

“No don't do it, we need her alive” Someone shouts out.

Serana opens her eyes in time to watch a man appear from one of the back rooms.   
“What are you on about? Aren't you the one who wanted me to kill this bloodsucking fiend when you first discovered who she was” Isran asks the man 

“I did and still do, but I have been talking to some of the other soldiers and we might actually need her help.” The man responds to Isran's disbelief.

“What are you going on about?” Isran asking the same question Serana was thinking 

“Haven't you heard the rumors Isran? There is an assassin killing people out there and it has got people very concerned. Even some of the Jarls are worried about this and we have received some requests for help” The man responds, watching as Isran slowly lowers his dagger from Serana's neck.

“What has this got to do with the Dawnguard? We don't deal with assassins.” Isran responds

“No, we don't normally. But more and more of the rumors are suggesting that the assassin in question is an vampire.” 

“So why do we need her help then” Isran asks, indicating to Serana still being held up.

“Because we need her to track down and kill the assassin. We have been trying to for some time now with no success”

Isran drops Serana and walks into the middle of the room before shouting very loudly “EVERYONE IN TO THE MAIN DINING HALL NOW.” Isran then turns to Serana “Stay here and do not move. If you do, I will hunt you down and kill you myself” 

Serana nods and watches as Isran disappears into the main dining room, followed quickly behind by the rest of the Dawnguard members not already present in the hall.

Serana sits down on the step she normally does when she waits for Larna to returns and tries to listen in on the conversation. All Serana manages to make out from the conversation is lots of comments about people hearing the rumors about this new assassin being an vampire and the Jarls being very concerned about it. Serana watches as a man runs out the room before quickly returning with a handful of scrolls, Serana managing to spot some of the scrolls having symbols and marks relating to the Jarls of Skyrim.

After more conversation and loud noises, Serana suddenly finds the room filled with Dawnguard soldiers and Isran standing right in front of her. 

“After a discussion, I have decided to spare your life for now” Isran says to Serana's relief. Isran then pulls out a scroll bearing the seal of the Dawnguard and hands it to Serana “That there is note saying from now until we deem other wise, you are now an honorary member of the Dawnguard” 

“W...What?” Serana asks as she stands there stunned

“This will enable you move freely throughout Skyrim and instigate this assassin and bring him down in the name of the Dawnguard without worrying about hold guards getting in the way.” Isran continues, ignoring Serana's question 

Serana looks at the scroll and asks “Why are you doing this?”

“Do not take this as a sign I forgive what you did to Larna, I am still incredibly angry at you. However, this new threat needs to be dealt with and with Larna gone for the time being, you are our best chance at finding him. As Larna always said, use what you are hunting to help hunt more. You are also going to track down Larna while you are out” 

Serana is about to say something but Isran quickly adds “Also, you are hereby banished from this fort and surrounding until the assassin is dead and you return with Larna accompanying you. You have half an hour to collect what you left here and leave.” 

Serana stands there stunned for a few seconds before nodding and running up to Larna's room. She runs inside and quickly closes the door behind her before looking around the room for anything that could help find this assassin or Larna. Serana searches through the odd magical trinkets and artifacts Larna left behind for anything but with no success. She then moves to Larna's bedside table and notices that when she opens it, there is a book face down in the draw. Serana picks up the book and turns it over to reveal that it is Larna's diary. “She left this behind, maybe it can help me track her down” Serana says to herself before putting the diary in her bag. 

“Hurry up” Serana hears Isran shout from outside.

Serana takes one last look around the room and takes a few magical artifacts that might be useful to her search before walking out the room and locking it. She then returns downstairs and finds Isran and most of the Dawnguard standing there with Isran at the front.

“Remember Serana, either return with the assassin dead and Larna leading you in or never return” Isran says before stepping aside. Serana watches as the group splits down the middle to reveal the exit.

“What is going to happen about my Elder scroll?” Serana asks as she starts to walk.

“It will remain here with the other one in the vault, safe and secure until Larna returns to finish what she started against your family” Isran responds.

As Serana walks between them, she hears Isran comment “ Remember Serana, I have people everywhere. Betray us and I will personally hunt you down and kill you, got it?” 

Serana turns and nods before quickly walking out the fort. She listens to the door shut behind her and sighs a relief, she never thought she would make it out alive, let alone an honorary member of the Dawnguard. She walks down the path back out the grounds of the fort, getting the same reception she did when she first came in. She walked out the grounds, through the wooden gate and out the canyon.

“That was unexpected” Serana says to herself before she remembers the scroll in her hand. She has a look at the scroll and admires the red ribbon keeping the scroll sealed, the symbol of the Dawnguard marked on the outside of the scroll. Curiosity getting the better of her, Serana carefully removes the ribbon and reads what the scroll says 

\-------Scroll---------

To whom this is presented to.

This scroll recognizes the bearer as an honorary member of the Dawnguard and should be allowed to go along with their business. If the bearer asks any questions, answer them as the answers may prove helpful to combating the vampire threat. 

Isran. Commander of the Dawnguard

\------------------- 

Serana notices the wax on the paper with the Dawnguard seal pressed into it's surface.

“So where to start?, I have a vampire assassin to kill and my Larna to find” Serana asks herself as she looks at the path ahead.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay, Real life made it hard for me to find time to write down the ideas I wanted the pair to go. I should now have more time to release more chapters as time goes on. I am not sure where I want to go but I do have a few ideas for the next few chapters at least

“So how goes the hunt for this assassin Serana” The Jarl asks as he walks into the room, finding Serana leaning over the large map in the back room, the surface of the table is covered in scrolls of various sizes and little red and blue flags sticking out of it.   
“It is not going well; I took the idea of using little flags from my time in Solitude when I was there looking for the assassin. Instead of the red and blue flags to mark either Empire or Stormcloak areas, I used the red ones to mark out where the assassin has struck and the blue for any sightings.” Serana responds as she places another red flag on the map just outside Riften.  
The jarl takes one look at the map “There are a lot of red marks but only a few blue ones”  
Serana sighs as she responds “I know, and not for the reason you think.” This raises an eyebrow on the Jarl so Serana answers the silently asked question. “the reason why there is no witnesses is that the assassin kills their target and escapes without a trace. If there are any witnesses, all the seem to say is watching a figure clad in black armour, hood over the head and mask over the face disappear into the night. Any guards that follow in pursuit come back saying they instantly vanished without a trace.”  
“And that is why you suspect vampires then and why you are hunting them?” The Jarl asks as he looks over the map Serana is working on.  
Serana sighs, clearly indicating that she has answered this question so many times “yes, with the use of magic only capable by mages but with physical abilities far beyond any that I have seen, the only other group for people capable of such are vampires. This is strengthened by the kills only happening while under the cover of night.”   
The Jarl nods before having a guard waving him over from the doorway. Serana watches as the jarl walks towards the guard as she leans over the table before they have a short conversation. After a few head nods and the guard runing off, the Jarl turns to Serana and says “I must be off and attend to something. One of our nobles has seem to run off into the nearby caves and we are trying to work out what has scared him to do this.” With that, the Jarl nods before disappearing.   
Just as Serana looks back over the scrolls on the table, the jarl suddenly sticks his head in and says “have you been to see if Larna is back?”   
Serana’s interest is instantly peaked as the Jarl continues “She is a Thane here in Whiterun and I believe a few surrounding holds. She is well known for her abilities to deal with things like this but she hasn’t been seen in a while but she does have a house here, maybe her housecarl can provide something. I am sure Larna will not mind.”  
Serana just nods, trying to pretend that she might consider it but in actual fact is running towards the house mentioned the first chance she gets. As the jarl leaves, Serana quickly packs up some of the scrolls into her little bag, thankful for Larna’s ability to enchant nearly any type of mundane item before running out the room.

After walking out Dragonsreach, Serana walks across the wooden bridge crossing the moat before down the stone stairs and into the Cloud district, receiving nods from the guards and a few people who know what her purpose is in Whiterun.   
“Ahh, you are looking for the Breezewood” the guard responds to Serana’s question of where Larna lives “Follow this path down the stairs and through the market place, past the general goods store and you should see it, it is the building on your left as you pass the store. If you end up at the blacksmith, you have gone too far.” Serana thanks the guard and follows the directions given to her and walks past through the market place and past the general good store, waving at the owner as he walks into his store. Serana never liked the man but he always did deliver on the bottles of blood she asked for as he did say everything is for sale, just thankful he took the excuse of she needed them for vampire luring instead of revealing that the bottles had a more personal use.  
Serana ends up standing outside the door the guard pointed to her and knocks on the door and after hearing no response after several knocks, Serana tries to push the door open and is thankful when she discovers that it is unlocked. 

“Hello?” Serana asks as she walks through the door, surprised to find the door unlocked and nobody home. “nice little place Larna has here” Serana remarks as she looks around the small, wooden house and smiles at how simple it is. Apart from the slight glow from the orb on the Enchanters table in the back, there was no other sign of magical artefacts in the room. Serana looks briefly around the other rooms before looking up the stairs and slowly walks up them, being careful that the housecarl might be sleeping. As she steps onto the wooden floorboards on the next level, she looks into the door immediately on her left and finds a small bedroom furnished with very basic furniture very similar to the room. After spotting several pieces of steel arms and armour lying about and a fresh food laying on the dresser next to the bed, Serana guesses that there is someone living here and decides not to look any further.   
Serana turns around and shuts the light door behind her before finding another door and walking towards it to have a look in there. Opening the door, Serana smiles as she looks around the room that contrasts so much with the rest of the house. She walks in as she looks at a flaming sword mounted to the wall that doesn’t burn the wooden mount before admiring the full suit of magicians robes sitting on a stand next to the table covered in various pieces of parchment. 

Deciding it would be a best place to start, Serana looks through all the various scrolls laying on the table, some listing out magical spells while others talking about quests she has been given with the word Cleared written on the bottom. Shortly after coming up empty on her search for information that could help locate Larna, Serana then turns her attention to the rest of the room. She opens every box and draw she could before carefully placing the items back the way she found it to make sure that no one could work out that anyone was in there. 

As she looks through a box of basic rings of various precious metals, Serana hear the main door below open and quickly slam shut before hearing the sound of metal scraping along the stone floor that makes up the building’s foundations. She quickly and as silently as she could leave the room before turning herself invisible and making her way out the house. When Serana finally stands on the stone floor after traversing the noisy wooden staircase that creaked every time she attempted to gently put her weight on it, she looks towards the door and is about to start walking towards it when she hears the familiar sound of a bowstring being drawn with an arrow notched.  
“Why are you here thief?” a firm, feminine voice asks Serana from behind. Serana deciding not to respond in the hope that while the woman knew she was in the house, she didn’t know where she was standing. “I will not ask you again. Why are you here?”   
Keeping her invisibility intact, Serana slowly turns around to find a young Female Nord woman standing there clad in Steel armour with a drawn bow in hand, the arrow aimed firmly at her head. Deciding it would be best to answer before she gets shot in the head with an arrow, Serana lowers her invisibility as she replies “I am looking for someone”  
“If you are looking for someone, why are you sneaking around this house then?” The woman replies, still leaving her aim at Serana’s head.  
“The person I am looking for has gone missing for a long time now and this is her home, her name is Larna.” Serana says, watching as the woman lowers her arrow but still keeps it notched in the bow. 

“You know Larna?” The woman asks with the sound of hope flowing in her tone.  
“I do. I used to travel with her for a long time but I have not seen her in a long time which is why I am here looking for clues to where she has gone.”  
The woman removes the arrow from her bow and places it back in the quiver on her back before placing the bow on her back too. “okay, not sure if I believe you but you are my best bet even though you are a vampire, not sure why the Dawnguard allow you to work with them but they must have their reasons.”  
Serana looks at her stunned, she has been able to keep her nature a secret for so long until now. “how do you know that I am a vampire?” Serana asks   
The woman before her reaches into her armour and pulls out a gold amulet with a glowing ruby in the middle. “After Larna went vampire hunting when she found out how big the threat was, she made me this. The red jewel in the centre glows softly when in the presence of a vampire and guessing by how bright it is glowing, you are no ordinary vampire so you must be the one Larna spoke of in her letters”  
“Larna told you about me?” Serana ask as she watches the woman returns the amulet back under her armour.  
“She did yes. She told me in her letters about how close you two had got and how much you meant to her.” The woman nods as she notices Serana saddens at the comment before continuing “I might have something for you that might cheer you up.” The woman then walks into one of the back rooms and the sounds of cupboards opening and glass bashing up against other glass before returning with a handful of dark red bottles with a thick liquid within them. “Larna sent them here from wherever she was at the time with a note that said store in a save place and you will know when to use them”   
Serana takes one of the bottles and pulls the cork out the top and takes a sniff. “This is blood” Serana says as she takes a sip of the bottle, smiling when she is hit with the familiar taste of Larna’s blood which brings back good memories of when they were traveling together.  
“looks like you enjoyed that” the woman says as she gives the remainder of the bottles to Serana, watching her put them in a bag that seems to not get full even though she put 5 bottles in it. “not sure how I feel helping a vampire but after the help you have been doing around Skyrim combating the vampire threat and with Larna trusting you enough to let you travel with her, I think I can trust you for now.”   
Serana nods as she takes a sip of the blood from the bottle in her hand before replacing the cork and putting it in the same bag as the other 5 bottles. “thanks for this.” Serana says with a smile  
Before the woman can respond, there is a knock on the door and the woman walks over to open it, revealing a guard who seems to be out of breath.  
“can I help you?” the woman asks as she looks at the guard.  
“you can Lydia. I am looking for the vampire hunter, there might be a lead on this assassin” The guard responds. Lydia points at Serana before moving out the way so the guard can talk directly to Serana. “ahh, there you are. We have been looking for you as there is a lead on the assassin. A noble here has been targeted by the assassin and has fled the city and hidden in one of the nearby caves.”   
Serana looks surprised by the lead and asks “how did you find that this person is targeted by the assassin?”   
The guard looks with the same blank expression thanks to their helmets as he responds. “There were rumours of someone trying to talk to the Dark brotherhood and that Tulur was the target of the assassination planned. When we went to talk to him, we discovered that he was no longer home. We did a quick search to see if the hit was carried out and discovered that there was a Nightshade laying on the pillow of the main bed. “  
“just like the other marks that have been assassinated.” Serana say as she nods “how do we know that the person is still alive?” Serana asks as she pants herself down to make sure she has everything.  
“As we went looking for him, one of the guards said that he saw Tulur running past him through the gates. Another guard saw him run into a cave system as he was out on patrol and reported it to me. We sent a guard in to try and bring him back but were shot at by what appeared to be bandits but we couldn’t be sure. “  
“Bandits you say” Lydia asks as she perks up from behind the guard “there were rumours he was working with a group of bandits but no one could prove it.”   
The guard doesn’t even turn around to acknowledge Lydia had said something and continued in the same monotone voice “Whatever the case, he is no longer within our reach to help but the Jarl thought you should know so you can investigate this further.” The guard then promptly leaves as Lydia shuts the door behind him.  
“So you are going out after him then?” Lydia asks as she moves to sit by the fire.   
“I have to, even though he was not a very nice man with questionable morals, we can use him to lure the assassin to a place we can lay a trap. Never gotten this close to capturing the assassin before”  
“So you plan on using him as bait? I can live with that as long as you let the assassin get his mark before you capture him” Lydia responds with a laugh as she stirs the liquid held in the pot above the fire. Serana smiles but doesn’t say anything else as she looks in her bag to make sure she has got everything before looking at Lydia and saying “Well, it was nice to meet you Lydia and I can hope you will keep my nature as it were to yourself.” After receiving a nod from Lydia, Serana walks out and head in the direction mentioned by the guard.  
Serana manages to locate the cave in question just as the sun starts to disappear over the mountains, noticing a small amount of bandits walking around. Serana decides that it would be best to try and sneak past the guards and try and talk to Tulur as she starts to walk into the cave as she successfully sneaks past the guards, she hears someone approaching from behind and is in the process of turning around to see who it was but was unable to see who it was as she was stuck on the head and knocked unconscious. 

After a few hours, Serana slowly awakes and attempts to sit up, feeling the concussion affect her as she does so. Serana is thankful that she is able to get a good look at what is in the room thanks to her vampire senses return to her as the concussion wears off, even though the room is barely lit thanks to the small amount of goat sconces lining the stone wall. She looks around the cave room acting as her prison and finds it is barely furnished with only a table covered in scrolls and bags with a large, intricately decorated chest resting beside it against the wall.   
Serana is about to attempt to get up and finds herself restrained by ropes tying her arms and legs together, sighing as the knots seem to tighten as she struggled against them. The silence in the room is interrupted as Serana watches as someone enters the room dressed in finely made clothes before walking to the table covered in scrolls and looking through them or moving them about. After a few seconds of doing this, the man says as he leans over the table “ahh, you are up Serana. That is good to hear.”  
“how do you know who I am?” Serana asks as she ceases to struggle against her restraints.  
“I know who you are due to your work hunting this assassin throughout Skyrim and more closely in Whiterun.” The man responds as he stands up and moves to face her, looking at her up and down before continuing “I was hoping that you would have come here to save me but you do not need to worry, that assassin is as good as dead when he attempts to come and get me which mean that I can have my fun with you. I waited until you are awake so I could hear you scream. “the man leers as he looks at Serana low cut robes, smiling as she attempts to move her body to hide what he was looking at.   
Serana is about to say something when someone wearing an attire more suitable to a bandit but with some upgrades to the armour in the form of padded leather walk in and talk to the man “I have made sure that everyone is prepared for is so called assassin. There is only one entrance way in which is covered by several people.”   
“Good Chief” Tulur responds “that means we are ready. Out entertainment has woken up”  
The bandit chief looks at Serana and smiles “Good, the boys out there are going to have so much fun with you. Tulur here” the chief pats him on the shoulder “said that we can use you as much as we want after he is done with you as a reward for protecting him on top of the gold to protect him which makes us all happy.  
Serana attempts to wiggle herself back towards the wall as the two men slowly move towards her with a scary look on their faces before the sound of metal striking stone gives them pause. “Go and check that out Chief. I am sure that it was an idiot practicing with a bow and missing but go and make sure.” Watching as the man bows to him slightly before walking out.  
“This assassin must have you scared.” Serana responds with a smile, hoping to unnerve the man to make a mistake she could use to escape.  
Tulur only laughs as he looks at Serana and says “Scared no, cautious yes. I have heard the stories and is taking nothing to chance and I will be the one to bring down the feared Tulur. Not you, not the Jarls, not even the Empire and their Elven masters. Me.”   
The man is about to continue gloating when the sound of fighting and screams of pain erupted from outside the cave. “here we go, this assassin is as good as dead” Tulur said as he waits for the good news. They wait for several seconds before the unasked question of what is happening is answered as the bandit chief runs in with sweat pouring down his face and he barely says thanks to the heavy panting “The assassin is here, The assa…..” The man being interrupted as a dagger appears from thin air reaches around and cuts the man’s throat, the blood spraying out and nearly landing on Tulur who is several meters away.   
Serana focuses all she as into turning herself invisible as a figure dressed in dark leather from head to toe stops out the shadows wielding two daggers. Once Serana is invisible, she attempts to work out who it is although fears that she might not live long enough to tell others what she saw. As the assassin walks into the light thrown around the room, Serana notices that the is a budge in the armour at the chest area which, along with the laugh the assassin gives as Tulur begins to swing his sword at them sounding scary but with a very feminine tone, comes to the conclusion that the assassin is a woman. 

“Stay back” Tulur shouts as she swings his sword at the assassin. Serana watches as the assassin says nothing in return before deflecting one his attacks with such finesse that she disarms him, the sword that was in his hand flying across the room before crashing into the rock wall the other side of the room.   
Having been disarmed, Tulur swings a bunch at the assassin, watching as the assassin effortlessly avoiding the attack before spinning the man around in her arms and slicing his throat in one motion, the blood spray covering the walls before him. The assassin lets go of Tulur and steps back, watching as the now lifeless body crumples to the floor before sighing and returning her weapons to her belt. 

Serana then watches as the assassin figure begins to search Tulur’s body for anything of value before turning her attention to the rest of the room. Serana just remains invisible in the hopes she has not been discovered as the assassin picks up a elven dagger off the table and looks at it. Serana begins to panic as she recognises that the dagger as her own that must have been taken from her in when she was knocked unconscious. The assassin’s whole stature shifts to someone who is sad as she looks at the dagger before hearing a noise originating from Serana’s location and glaring that way. Serana closes her eyes as the assassins flicks the dagger in her hand at her, hoping that the dagger misses.  
After feeling the dagger pass by her arm but not making a sound, Serana opens her eyes to find that the dagger, barely missed her, managing to cut her arm open a little as it went past. She looks at where the dagger ended up and finds a now dead rat laying on the floor, her elven dagger though it’s head. Serana then slowly looks towards the assassin, careful not to make another noise and finds the assassin looking her way using her bright green eyes.   
Serana looks at the woman in surprise with a slight smile on her face as she watches the assassin run out the room. She could recognise those eyes anywhere; they are Larna’s eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please do post below and tell me what you think of this chapter. I have been away from writing for too long now so it would be good to get an idea on what the feeling is about this story.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought I would warn that this next chapter is darker than what I normally write. Please leave comments on how you found this chapter as it is the first time if I written that sort of thing before so it would be nice to hear what other think.

Serana looks out and admires the view as she stood on one of the ramparts that are part of the wall surrounding Whiterun. She was using the moment of quiet to work out what to do next, requesting the guards that she not be disturbed unless it was absolutely necessary. Serana had to work out a lot now that she has discovered that one of the most feared and dangerous assassins that has lived in a long time and the woman she cares the most about are actually the same person. She knows she cannot tell anyone what she has discovered about Larna as she would become a wanted woman for the rest of her life but she did need help as she knew how powerful Larna was and adding a fully trained assassin into the mix makes her a very dangerous person. She needed a way of bringing others in without telling them who they were actually dealing with.  
After a few hours of standing there in silence, a guard walks towards her while calling out. “Serana, there has been some news on the assassin’s whereabouts and the Jarl wants to see you” The guard just pauses as he waits to hear her response.  
Serana just looks at the guard with confusion “How, the assassin had just struck Tulur a few hours ago?”   
The guard just looks at her blank expression as usual “The Jarl has the information you are looking for” The guard does a slight bow before disappearing. Serana just looks out at the view again, smiling as the birds fly over head in the clear blue skies before deciding that it would be best to go and see the Jarl to see what he has discovered.   
Serana slowly makes her way back through Whiterun and towards Dragonsreach, getting a few head nods from the guards as she passes. When Serana arrives at Dragonsreach, she watches as both the great doors leading in are opened for her without her even needing to ask like usual before walking in. She is greeted by a large number of people who stand up from their seats at the tables that lay either side of the big carpet leading up to the throne, the jarl along with his steward and housecarl standing alongside him. 

“I believe congratulations are in order Serana” The Jarl says as Serana walks towards him  
“I am not sure what for” Serana responds as she stands before the Jarl.  
“For helping to catch the assassin and bring down the Dark brotherhood of course” The Jarl says triumphantly  
Serana’s eyes go wide and she starts to panic “how? I didn’t catch the assassin as I arrived too late to late” Serana asks as she manages to keep her panic hidden  
The Jarl just smiles as he sits down, Serana watching as the others short of the steward and his housecarl still standing. “the information you have gathered over your short time on the hunt has allowed the Empire to find where they were hiding and lay a trap for them all.”  
Serana starts to worry about Larna so she asks “So is the identity of the assassin known?”   
“I am afraid not,” The Jarl responds as he looks at Serana “The only people who know who the assassin is are the elves that captured the assassin as they made their way back to their hideout which I have now been told is a burned out pit with all the members of the order wiped out. There is a party at the Thalmor Embassy tonight to celebrate and all the Jarls have been invited to attend along with high ranking Empire officials. Oh, and you have been invited too so get ready, we are leaving before high noon to arrive on time”.  
Serana just stands there for a few seconds to process it all before nodding and responding “Okay, I will need to get ready, where shall I meet you?”   
“We meet outside the front gate; I have a cart waiting for us to depart” The Jarl says with a smile before continuing “You will find an outfit suitable to attend the party in your room where you have been sleeping.”   
Serana smiles and nods before walking towards the back of Dragonsreach, past the table covered in her collected information on the assassin before walking out the big doors. Serana liked that the room she was provided by the Jarl was away from everyone else so she could focus on the task at hand and with a great view overlooking the wilderness that Whiterun resides in the middle of. Serana walks into her room and lays on the bed before closing her eyes and starting to ask herself what she should do. She knew that Larna was being held captive by the same people who nearly took her life the first time so she had to find a way to rescue Larna. She also had the problem of trying to rescue Larna without alerting more people to the fact that the most feared and powerful assassin was in fact Larna.   
Serana began to have a look around her room as she paced up and down before smiling at the pot of Nightshade resting on the table next to her bed, she knew Larna loved them so she would use the flower to remind her of Larna. It was at that moment Serana decided to go to the party and rescue Larna for the Thalmor’s clutches. She begins to get ready, looking at the lovely outfit laying on her bed. Like how the gold embroidery that runs through dress compliments the green fabric that makes up most of the dress.  
Serana slipped on the dress and loved how it fit her body perfectly. She smiled as she looked down and noticed that it had a reasonable cut in her dress very similar to the robes she normally wondered around in. She then grabs and puts on her favourite amulet given to her by Larna before looking in the mirror, loving how the silver the amulet was made from sits nicely on her skin with the emerald embedded into the centre sparkles softly with magical energy. She then slips on the two gold and ruby rings sitting on her table and looks one last time in the mirror, liking the look. Serana reaches up and places her hand on the amulet resting on her neck, rubbing her thumb over the emerald as she starts to think about Larna and the fun they had together. She would fantasise about seeing Larna again like she did in some of the dreams she had and smiles as she closes her eyes.   
Serana continued to close her eyes and think about Larna when there was a bang on the door.  
“Serana, I have been sent to make sure you are okay and ready to depart, the Jarl is waiting for you outside” someone shouts from the other side of the door, Serana guessing by the monotone voice that was used was a guard so she snaps out of her daydreaming and gets ready. She grabs her dagger and ties it to her leg using a simple leather holster, knowing that she will not be allowed to openly carry a dagger into the embassy but to rescue Larna, she may need to use it. Serana then opens the door, finding that it is a guard and jokes “do you mind if you look all the same?” Serana receiving a cold, blank stare from the guard before walking off. Serana follows the guard, smiling at her joke as she is lead through Dragonsreach and then through Whiterun before ending up outside Whiterun stables, finding a horse drawn cart waiting for her along with a few Whiterun guards on horseback, the Jarl sitting in the cart waiting.   
“Ahh, there you are Serana. I am glad you decided to come along” The Jarl says as he offers a hand to help Serana into the cart. As Serana sits down, the Jarl continues “I brought a fur coat with us as Skyrim can be cold as you journey through it.” Serana smiles and takes the fur coat before putting it on, knowing that while she is highly resistant to the cold thanks to her vampire abilities and being a Nord herself, she liked how the fur coat looked and felt.

 

The journey to the Embassy was long and boring, short of spotting a few wild animals in the forests running about and attacking each other, there was nothing happening which surprised Serana. She was expecting to run into some form of danger as they travelled some of the roads that are well known for bandits to ambush travellers.   
Just as the sun starts to set and the night sky slowly appearing, the cart stops and the Jarl gets out, turning around and offering a hand down to Serana as he says “here we are, the Embassy. This place doesn’t see a lot of people who are not elves visit. “   
Serana doesn’t take the offered hand and just jumps out instead, landing perfectly to the surprise of the Jarl and surrounding guards. She then looks up at the building that sits on top of the hill, watching other people arrive on horseback or carts before entering the building.  
As they approach, Serana notices that the building is much bigger than she expected and appears to be one of a few buildings that are within a 10 feet high stone wall complete with a black metal on the top. Serana slows down slightly to get the best look she can at the outside as she knew she would be sneaking around it, noticing that there were several guards walking around but as it wasn’t fully dark yet, she couldn’t work out what they were wearing thanks to the mixture of light and darkness.  
Serana was so distracted by look around that she was startled by someone asking “invitations please”. Serana turns around to find two guards dressed in armour that had a bird shaped helmet. She just managed to hold herself back from attacking the guards for their first attempt at killing Larna and capturing her this time. “I am sorry what?” Serana asks as she panics slightly, she didn’t remember any mention of an invitation being needed or a piece of paper laying on top of her dress.  
“here you go” the Jarl says as he hands the guards before her two scrolls. The guard opens up the scroll and takes a look. “one Nord female and one Nord male. You are cleared to go in” The guard replies, turning to the other standing in the doorway and nodding, watching him step to the side.   
Serana sighs a relief and walks past the guard and into the building with a slight grump that the Jarl made her look like someone who needs help. Serana looks around the interior of the building and notices that it looks a lot like the inside of the a few of the building in Solitude with the clean marble floors and nicely decorated and made furniture, often with some item like a bowl or plate made of sliver sitting on the top. Serana follows the Jarl, quickly using some Illusion magic like always to change the colour of her eyes form a deep orange to a nice blue, not knowing if there is anyone around who can spot a vampire just by their eyes.   
Serana enters what appears to be the main gathering room as there is various people in elegant outfits, Serana recognising some of them from her travels around Skyrim dealing with the vampire and assassin threat. Serana watches as a few more people turn up as she hangs around the corner, The Jarl seeming to have gone off and started to talk to some other people before the room fell silent. Everyone watched as an elven woman walks into the room and stands in the center of the room, dressed in robes that all Thalmor wizards wear as she addresses the room.   
“I would like to thank you all for coming tonight. “The woman starts off, her tone feminine but deep. “we are here to celebrate the death of the feared assassin and their reign of terror on Skyrim. Thanks to the support of you all, we have managed to capture and kill the assassin and bring down the whole of the Dark brotherhood.  
The room erupts into cheer but a small amount of worry pings on Serana’s heart, worrying that she too late to save Larna.   
“Now, let’s drink and eat” The woman says as people carrying food and drink walk out from one of the nearby doors and begins to move around.   
“congratulations Elenwen” Someone shouts out.  
Serana blinks hard at the name mentioned had to control her rage as she hears that name. she had always wanted to know who this Elenwen was who has been causing her Larna so much pain over the years but never knew who she was or what she looked like.   
“Thank you. Now if you will excuse me, I have something to attend to.” Elenwen says before she walks out.  
Serana decides that it would be best to see for herself where Larna is and if she is dead for herself so looks around for some way of getting out the room without alerting anyone where she is going. After looking around and finding all the exits covered by at least one soldier, Serana comes up with a plan to turn herself invisible and sneak around instead so she walks towards the exit, mentioning something about her not feeling very well, even play acting a little. The guards just wave her through but they do not watch her leave so Serana jumps into action.  
After opening and closing the door to trick the guards who let her past into thinking she had left, she turned herself invisible and begins to sneak around, making sure that she is keeping an eye out on any patrols so she isn’t discovered. Serana looks around the building, looking into every room she could and picking all the doors she couldn’t open in her attempts locate Larna. After looking in every room in the building, Serana is unable to locate any sign of Larna and sighs. She looks out the window and wonders if she missed anything and then remembers what she saw on the way in, this is just one building and she could see two more from the window.  
Serana makes her way out of the first building, not running into anyone which surprised her before standing in the courtyard, thankful that it has now become dark which means she can see perfectly. Serana looks around the courtyard before she starts to sneak her way around, spotting at least 2 patrols walking around which consisted of 2 soldiers in elven armour and one wizard. Using the plants and stone walls that make up the courtyard, Serana slowly creeps her way around until she stands at the doorway of the second building in the courtyard.   
This building looked a lot like the first one but was a lot smaller than the main one, Serana guessing this is more for important people to reside so has a look around, hoping that she can find something to help her locate Larna. Serana carefully opens the door and slips inside just as a patrol begins to head her way in the courtyard. Serana begins to sneak around, turning herself visible again as she was feeling drained after keeping the invisibility active for so long. She repeats what she did in the first building and begins to open every door she could and pick every door she couldn’t.   
Serana begins to pick one door open when she hears rapid footsteps with someone shouting, “stop there” Serana panics and darts into a nearby open room, hiding just out of view and draws her blade as she waits for the guards to run in. Serana waits for the sound of metal boots scraping against the marble floor to be loud enough that she knows they are in arms reach and pounces. She manages to slash the first one in the neck perfectly before they had a chance to react, the soldier falling to the floor with a thud as the second runs in. The second guard is not caught unawares like the first and swings his sword at Serana, slashing wildly at her in his attempt to kill her. Serana manages to block his parrying attacks until he steps back and raises his sword above his head and puts all his power behind the swing. Serana deftly avoids his attack and as he moves past her, she slams two blows with her dagger into his back, watching him fall to the floor and landing on the floor with a thud just like the first.  
Serana looks at the bodies on the floor and panics, she knows that another patrol will find the bodies so she acts fast. She places the bodies into small storage room and hides the bodies in two barrels before returning to the room to deal with the blood on the floor from the fight. At that time, the blood had already started to dry to the rough stone floor so she finds a few carpets and rugs from another room and places them over the blood pools to hide it. She watched as small amount of blood started to appear as the rugs soaked up the blood so she quickly runs out.   
Serana moves as fast as she could, looking around the rest of the rooms in that building and turning up nothing. She is about to give up hope when she remembered spotting another building in the courtyard that looked more like a large shed than a building but decides to have a look, she had nothing to lose after all.  
Serana slowly makes her way back out the courtyard, sneaking her way past the patrol coming her way and into the only building she hadn’t searched. She estimated that she had maybe less than an hour before what happened to the patrol she killed was discovered and decides to move fast. She slips into the shed and looks around the basic room that was filled with various sizes of boxes and crates, Serana smelling the scent of fresh fruit and vegetables along with a meat in various states of preparation.   
Deciding that there must be something else in the room, Serana begins to have a look around and notices that one of the back shelving cabinets had two candles either side of it, one burning while the others was extinguished. Remembering her time living in the castle her family resides, Serana grabs hold of the scone that holds the unlit candle and gives it a gentle twist, feeling something give and steps back. She watches as the shelving cabinet slowly swings ajar, revealing a simple wooden door but with a lot of Iron reinforcement plates embedded in the wood. Pushing the door open, Serana opens the door and focuses in turning herself invisible and slowly creeps down the barely lit stair case, thankful for her vampire vision so she could see what was down the other end which means she could be prepared for people coming up.  
Serana steps down the stairs, landing on a stone floor and the smell of blood hits her nose as she looks around. She finds that she is small square room with a door similar looking to the one she just came in opposite the staircase. Serana attempts to push this door open, thankful that it swings open and she carefully sneaks in, thankful she doesn’t spot anyone else in the room.  
She looks around the room that was quite clearly the torture room that the Thalmor uses to get information out of people. The room is filled with various torturing devices scattered around along with cages filled with skeletons hanging from the ceiling, the floor covered in blood and the air thick with the stench of blood as well. Serana notices that there were 5 solid metal doors against the wall opposite her and runs over, pulling on the doors and sighing when she feels that they are locked. She looks down at the lock on the first door on the left and attempts to pick it, feeling her skills being challenged by the difficult, Serana is about to unlock the door when she hears the footsteps of several people walking down the stairs and runs behind a stack of crates that are against the wall opposite what looks to be a blood rack, giving her a good place to watch what happens in the room while not being seen.   
Serana watches as several people walk into the room and walks towards the rack while another person dressed in simple clothes that have lots of blood stains grabs a key hanging off the wall near the door and walks to the middle metal door. She watches as the man unlocks the door with the key and steps inside and makes a bit of noise. As the man drags what looks to be a body from the room, the smell of familiar blood hits Serana’s nose but she cannot work out where she has smelt it before thanks to the large amounts of blood already staining much of the floor and walls.   
Serana watches in horror as the body the man was dragging was thrown onto the rack before the limbs were shackled by large iron restraints, the hood being ripped off to reveal Larna. Serana almost begins to cry when she sees the condition she is in, the blood stained rags along with the large wounds and burns visible across her body where the rags don’t cover her body. Serana is about to stand up and kill every person in the room but she quickly sits back down where she is hiding knowing that while she could kill most of the people in that room, she might not be able to kill them all and there might be more just outside.  
Serana sits put and watches as the men around the room mutter amongst themselves, Serana beginning to feel sick as they begin to talk about taking turns using Larna’s body for their pleasure. The room suddenly becomes silent as the door into the room swings open again and a robed figure walks in, Serana working out that the person was Elenwen, the woman hosting the party that is no less than 100 meters away.   
Serana watches as Elenwen walks towards the group surrounding Larna’s unconscious body while saying “You have evaded me for so long Larna” almost taking to Larna but knowing that she is not going to respond. “You have killed so many people and foiled so many plans to take you in but now I finally have you.” Serana cringes as she watches Elenwen walk up to Larna’s body and begins to run her fingers almost sensually across Larna’s skin. She then steps back and orders “wake her” Smiling as the torturer unceremoniously punches Larna in the stomach, watching as she screams in pain and panting as she is winded by the blow.   
“good, you are awake” Elenwen says, almost smiling “we can begin although it looks like someone has started without me” Elenwen smiling at the torturer as he begins to light some of the sconces near the rack.  
Serana watches as Larna’s green eyes slowly open as she breaths heavily while Elenwen continues to walk around her, almost admiring her “We already knew that you are the most powerful mage for such a long time but to find out that the assassin we were hunting since rumours first reached us was you as well is such a surprise. You will make a fine addition to the Thalmor”   
Serana smiles as she hears Larna defiantly respond “I will never become someone you can order around. When I get free, I am going to kill you slowly and painfully.”   
Elenwen laughs as she looks down at Larna “That is not going to happen. You will do as I say eventually and I will enjoy breaking your spirit down and I know a good way to start.” Elenwen stands before Larna with a scary grin as she continues “you have been betrayed so many times and we had a part in it all.”   
Larna looks up at Elenwen and responds “what do you mean?” The defiance in the tone slowly disappearing.  
“you were captured as your assassin friends sold you out to save their own skins but do not worry, they are all dead now, the hideout now just a smouldering hole.” Serana saddens as she notices the sadness build in Larna’s eyes as Elenwen continues. “and not to mention your traveling companion”   
Larna looks up at Elenwen and ask “what are you talking about?”   
Elenwen leans in with a smile and responds “she didn’t betray you, we did. We know how much more powerful you were with her by your side so we hired an illusionist to split you two up and she did the takes perfectly. Shame we lost track of you after that but you becoming an assassin was an unexpected bonus.”   
Serana sheds a small tear as she watches what was left of Larna’s spirit shatter as she responds “so Serana didn’t betray me?”  
Elenwen just laughs again as she moves so her face is inches away from Larna’s “no, she was just as tricked as you were and you fell for it and now there is no one left to save you.”   
The door suddenly swings open with a guard bursting in, breathing heavily as she shouts “There is someone here Elenwen. We went to look for a patrol that didn’t return and discovered that they are both dead.”  
Elenwen looks at the man and shouts back with an angry tone. “What? How can this be.” She then looks at the men in the room and orders “Alright, I want everyone looking for this intruder and there will not be any rest until he is found.” She then turns to torturer and continues “prepare her for transport but do try and break her a little bit more, I sense that she has some fight left in her” turning to see that Larna was hanging her head low and a tear just flowing down her cheek.   
Serana watches as everyone apart from the torturer leaves the room in a hurry, weapons drawn and on the hunt. As she watches them leave, she hears a scream of pain coming from Larna’s direction and turns to find the torturer placing a hand on Larna’s chest, lighting arching around the hand before searing into Larna’s body.   
Deciding she has had enough of Larna being tortured, Serana sneaks around with her weapon drawn and stabs the man in the neck, watching as he falls to the floor clutching his neck. She then repeatedly stabs the man in anger, watching as the life leaves his body as his blood pools on the floor beneath them before looking up at Larna. She notices that she has fallen unconscious due to the pain just inflicted on her and sheds another tear and the various wounds that cover her body. She attempts to break the restraints that hold Larna down and finds they are way stronger than they look. Serana then turns her attention to the dead body on the floor and looks through it in the hopes of finding a way of unlocking the restraints instead, getting angry when the only key she finds doesn’t unlock what she wants.  
Serana looks around the room to find a way of either breaking the restraints or unlocking them and notices that there is a wooden door next to the main door into the room and decides to have a look in that. Quickly hurrying into the unlocked room, she finds what appears to be a sort of study but with a much darker feel. Various weapons of different makes mounted onto the walls, most with blood staining the blades while blood soaked clothes hang on hooks on the wall next to her. Serana looks at the large desk in the center of the room that seems to take up most of the space, the surface covered in various scrolls and decides that it would be a good place to look.   
Quickly rummaging through the desk and throwing whatever was not important out the way, she discovers a red book with Larna’s name on it. Serana picks it up and has a look at it before packing it in her bag, deciding that it would be best she gets herself and Larna out of there before someone comes back in. After finding a small iron key under some of the scrolls scattered across the table marked rack, Serana returns to Larna’s side and pushes the key into the lock, sighing a relief when she feels the lock give and the restraints fall aside.   
Serana picks Larna up and places her over her shoulder before looking around the room for another way out, knowing the way she came in is not an option thanks to everyone being on high alert and looking for her. Just as she is about to give up hope, she notices a wooden trap door barely visible under some hay and rushes over. She carefully places Larna on the floor, sighing when she notices the large amounts of blood on her robes but quickly moves to clear and open the trap door, noticing a large pile of dead bodies feeling a slight cold breeze indicating that there is a way out down there. Serana places Larna back on her shoulder and jumps down, cringing slightly as she lands on the pile of bodies but thankful that it breaks her fall. She quickly reaches up and shuts the trap door before making sure Larna is securely on her shoulder and walking down the dark cave. 

Quickly and carefully moving through the unlit cave, thankful for her vampire vision again, she eventually finds an exit to the cave system and into the woods that surrounded the embassy. Serana notices a horse eating a bush just next to the exit and decides that it would be best to make haste and leave before someone discovers the way she escaped and follows on behind. 

Serana grabs the reigns and moves the horse so she can place Larna’s body on its back before mounting it herself. Quickly checking that Larna’s body wasn’t going to move during transit, Serana begins to ride off into the night, deciding that it would be best to take Larna to a hidden location instead of a settlement but didn’t know where to go. She could take her to a nearby cave but the damp conditions might make Larna’s condition worse, not to mention the creatures that might live in there too.   
As Serana rode towards Falkreath., she remembered the offer a hunter gave her when she saved his life from a vampire when she was first starting out without Larna, the offer of using his hut whenever she needed it while he was out hunting. Quickly making her way towards the hut, sighing every time she feels Larna’s body bounced on the horse’s back as she rode along, and ending up outside the hut as the moon reaches its highest point in the sky. She looks around the woods to make sure that she was not followed and after making sure she wasn’t, she walked up to the door and pushes it open.  
“Hello?” Serana asks as she pushes the creaky door open. “is anyone here?” After hearing no response, Serana picks up the potted plant next to the door and finds a note she remembered the hunter tell her about. He always said that if he wasn’t there, look under the plant next to the door for a note that will say if he has left to go on a hunt and when he plans on returning. Quickly reading the note to find the hunter wasn’t going to return for a long time, Serana runs back to take Larna’s body off the horse, noticing that the horse’s back was stained with blood like her robes were when she picked Larna up before quickly going back inside.   
Kicking the door open and moving into the room that contained the largest bed she could find, Serana places Larna’s body onto the bed and makes sure that Larna was comfortable before making sure she is alive. After feeling a barely detectable heartbeat even for her vampire ears to hear, Serana begins to take as many blue bottles she could from around the room and from her bag and placing them before her as she begins to slowly remove Larna’s rags.   
As Serana’s hands glowed radiantly, she begins to run her hands across the wounds that were exposed when the rags were slowly removed but remembering what Larna said about healing spells putting stress on the body as the magic forces the body to heal itself. Serana begins to tear up as she uncovers Larna’s chest and finding various sized wounds ranging from lots of little knife wounds that shallowly penetrate the skin to very large cuts that start to leak blood, not to mention the series of burn marks and bruises across the skin.   
After several empty blue bottles later, Serana manages to stop Larna from bleeding out anymore and some of the very small wounds healed up before stopping, not wanting to put any more stress on Lanra’s body. She looks over Larna’s broken body and is thankful for all the medical skills and magic Larna taught her during their travels together otherwise she didn’t think she could save Larna.   
Serana pulls up a chair and looks out the window as the moonlight throws light throughout the peaceful woods as a light breeze causes the leaves to shake slightly before looking leaning back into the chair and closing her eyes, tired out from the rescue and healing of Larna.

**Author's Note:**

> feel free to leave comments on what you think and/or CONSTRUCTIVE comments.  
> I know that the story is not following the lore of the game exactly but where is the fun in that.


End file.
